


Dakota Elizabeth Winchester

by literal_fandom_trash



Series: Dakota Elizabeth Winchester [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Azazel's Special Children, Big Brother Dean, Big Brother Sam, F/M, Fluff, Sam's Twin, Season 1, Sister - Freeform, Sister Winchester fic, Winchester Sister, Winchester Sister Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-08 07:37:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 42
Words: 125,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8836003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literal_fandom_trash/pseuds/literal_fandom_trash
Summary: Sister Winchester fic where everything is the exact same, but Sam and Dean have a sister named Dakota who is Sam's twin.





	1. Pilot Part 1

_"This has got to be your worst idea yet." said the young girl riding shotgun._

_"Is not! I've had WAY worse ideas than this!" said the driver, earning the man a scoff from his passenger._

_"He's not going to want to come with us" she said, egging the man on._

_"Have a little faith." He replied. And they drove on._

..........

Dakota felt something brush against her shoulder and immediately woke up ready to fight off whatever evil creature may be threatening her.

"Hey, kiddo. Wake up, we're almost there." A familiar voice said. Dakota groaned as she realized that the only threat she was facing was her annoying older brother, Dean. 

The Impala pulled up in front of the apartment complex in Palo Alto, California, just outside of the Stanford campus. Dean and Dakota Winchester climbed out of the car and stared at the building before them.

"You're sure this is the right place?" Dakota asked her brother.

"Yes, Kota, I'm sure! Would it kill you to trust me every once in a while?" Dean snapped.

"Probably!" Dakota snapped before turning her eyes back to the apartment complex. "I'm willing to bet you $30, right now, that he won't come with us." Dakota turned to look at her brother who was also studying the building. He turned to her and held out his hand for her to shake then gave her a confident smile as he released her hand, like he was sure he was going to wish

Dakota rolled her eyes, "Whatever. How do you suggest we get in?" She asked. Dean waggled his eyebrows and started walking towards the fire escape.

"Really!? You wanna break in in the middle of the night!" Dakota said and Dean shushed her. They climbed up the fire escape and Dean opened a window to the apartment as quietly as he could. They crept into the room and looked for any sign of their brother, Sam. As Dean walked further into the apartment a tall shadow jumped out and attacked him. Dakota immediately recognized the tall figure as her twin brother Sam, but decided to let the boys figure that out on their own. Dakota watched as Dean flipped Sam onto his back.

"Woah. Easy, Tiger." said Dean

"Dean?" Sam gasped out questioningly. "You scared the crap outta me!"

Dean just shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "That's 'cause you're outta practice." and with that Sam returned Dean's previous courtesy and flip him onto his back. Dean looked up at Sam, still with a smile on his face and laughing, "Or not. Get off me!"

"You're both jackasses!" Exclaimed Dakota. Sam looked over at her as though he had even realized she was in the room.

"Dakota!" He said and Dakota found herself getting swept into a hug by her twin brother (yes, he was technically the older one, but only by ten minutes).

"Hey Sammy. Good to see you again, oh twin of mine." Said Dakota standing up on her tiptoes to return Sam's hug.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sam asked.

"Well I was looking for a beer!" said Dean, in the same joking, teasing manner he always used, grabbing Sam's shoulders.

Dakota didn't buy that for a second and she was willing to bet that Sam didn't either. "Seriously, what the Hell are you guys doing here?" Sam asked Dean and Dean's smile began to fall.

"Listen, we need to talk." Dean said in a serious tone.

"Before you go any further, I just want to say, I was against this idea!" exclaimed Dakota.

"Sam?" said a woman from the doorway in a tired and confused voice. She stood in the doorway in her sleeping shorts, Smurf's shirt, and wild curly hair.

"Jess. Hey" Sam said, "Dean, Dakota, this is my girlfriend, Jessica." Introduced Sam.

"Wait! Your siblings Dean and Dakota!?" questioned Jess.

"I love the Smurfs" Dean said pointing out the cartoon characters of Jessica's shirt. "I got to tell you, you are _way_ out of my brother's league." He continued to flirt with his charming smile. Dakota walked up to her oldest brother and punched him in the arm.

"Really Dean!? Sam's girlfriend?" she snapped. "By the way, hi I'm Dakota." She said, turning to introduce herself to Jessica.

"Nice to meet you. Let me just go change." Jess said.

"No! I wouldn't dream of it! Seriously..." Dean said, still flirting away. Jess raised her eyebrows at this.

"Okay, do I need to punch you again or are you going to behave?" Dakota scowled and crossed her arms.

"Anyways" Dean said, still addressing Jessica, "I gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private, family business. But, nice meeting you." He said. Jess gave a small, polite smile to Dean.

"No." Sam said as he walked over and put his arm protectively around his girlfriend "No, whatever you guys have to say, you can say it in front of her."

"Okay." said Dakota. She paused, looking for the right words. "Um...Dad hasn't been home in a few days."

"So he's working overtime on a Miller-time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later." Sam stated sassily

Dakota mentally shook her head and she saw Dean look down at the ground and nod, then he looked up at Sam with a serious expression and said "Dad's on a hunting trip, and he hasn't been home in a few days." Sam face hardened and his jaw set as he realized what his siblings were implying.

"Jess, excuse us." Sam said sternly not trying to scare her, but realizing the severity of the situation.

The three Winchester's went outside to talk and started walking to the car while talking

"I mean, common. You guys can't just break in in the middle of the night and expect me to hit the road with you." Sam said in an annoyed tone as they began descending the fire escape.

"I told you he wouldn't want to come." Dakota muttered at Dean under her breath.

Dean glanced at her and rolled his eyes, "You're not hearing me Sammy. Dad's _missing._ We need you to help us find him."

Sam still wasn't convinced, "Remember the poltergeist or the Devil's Gates in Clifftown, he was missing then, too. He's always missing and he's always fine." Were they really having this conversation?

"Not for this long" Dean stated with such seriousness in his tone it was impossible to ignore him.

"So are you going to come with us or not, because if not, Dean owes me $30." Dakota asked Sam in a teasing voice.

"I'm not." Sam said as though he had the final say.

"Why not?" asked Dean angrily.

"I swore I was done hunting." Sam reminded his siblings.

"Come on. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad." Dean tried to rationalize.

"Hey I hate it too sometimes, but it's our job" Dakota said to the taller brother.

"Yea, Dakota? When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45!" Sam complained to his siblings.

"Maybe if he gave you a .55 you wouldn't bitch so much." Dakota said sassily, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"What was he supposed to do?" Dean asked Sam angrily.

"I was nine years old!" Sam with as much sass as he could fit in his 6'4 body. "He was supposed to say don't be afraid of the dark!" Dakota stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Don't be afraid of the dark!? What? Are you kidding me? Of course you should be afraid of the dark! You know what's out there!" Dean yelled at his brother.

"Yea, I know." Sam said with an eye roll clearly present in his tone. "But still, the way we grew up after Mom died. And Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her! But we still haven't found the damn thing! So we kill everything we _can_ find." Dakota looked almost scared, they only talked about their mom when it was absolutely necessary, and this wasn't one of those cases.

"Yea, and we save a lot of people doing it, too." Dean said with a hint of pride in his tone. The siblings stared each other down, the silence was beginning to turn awkward.

"You really think Mom would have wanted this for us?" Sam questioned. Dean glared at his brother, before walking out the door to the car. Sam turned to follow Dean, not ready to be done arguing. Dakota sighed at her brothers' moronic behavior before following as well, just in time to hear Sam bitch, "The weapons training, and melting the silver into bullets. Man, guys, we were raised like warriors!"

"So what are you going to do? You're going to live some normal apple pie live? Is that it" Dean angrily questioned Sam. Dakota grinned to herself at the thought of a slice of warm apple pie right now, even if she wasn't a big fan of apples.

"No. Not normal. Safe." Sam said.

"And that's way you ran away." Dean scoffed at Sam.

"I was just going to college. It was Dad who said if I was going to go, I should stay gone. And that's what I'm doin'. Dakota was the only one who supported my decision!"

"Yea, but at least she stuck around!" Dean yelled. Dakota had had enough of this.

"Can you guys talk about like I'm standing right next to you, since, ya know, I am!" she shouted sassily at her brothers. They both looked over at her sheepishly, then back to each other.

"Look" Dean said in a much calmer tone, "Dad's in real trouble right now, if he's not dead already. I can feel it."

"We can't do this just the two of us." Dakota pleaded with Sam.

Sam looked at his sister and said with a small, sad smile, "Yes you can."

"Yea. Well maybe we don't want to." Said Dean, not looking at Sam. Sam let out the biggest sigh the three siblings had heard. He looked at the ground before looking back at at Dean and Dakota with a look of defeat.

"What was he hunting?" Sam asked with his bitchface on. Dean smiled and walked to that back of his beloved Impala to show Sam what he had. The Winchester's walked over to their car and popped the trunk and the secret compartment holding all their weapons.

"Alright", said Dean rubbing his hands together and looking at the trunk. He began to rummage through everything, "Where the Hell did I put that thing?'

"So, when Dad left, why didn't you guys go with him?" asked Sam as Dean continued to search the for the object he was looking for.

Dakota answered from where she was leaning on the side of the car, "We were working our own gig. This voodoo thing down in New Orleans."

"Dad let you guys go on a hunting trip by yourselves?" Sam asked in a very surprised tone

"I'm 26, dude. I can take care of us." Dean said in sassy.

"Yea, and also I don't need someone to take care of me! I'm 22, I can take care of myself!" Dakota told her older brothers. Dean looked over at her and smiled. "Alright. Here we go." He said as he found the mystery object in the trunk. He pulled out a stack of papers and said, "So, Dad was checking out this two lane black top just outside of Jericho, CA. About a month ago this guy," he handed a paper to Sam, "they found his car, but he vanished. Completely MIA." Sam studied the paper with an intense look on his face.

"So maybe he was kidnapped." Sam stated.

"Yeah, well, here's another one in April. Another one in December '04, '03, '98, '92, ten of them over the past twenty years. All men, all on the same five-mile stretch of road." Dean said explaining their case to Sam who had a "thinking face" on as he processed what his brother was telling him.

"Started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. We haven't heard from him since which is bad enough, but then Dean got this voicemail yesterday." Dakota explained to Sam as Dean pulled out his phone to play their dad's message. Dean played the choppy message that their dad left them.

"Dean...I can't...I need to...going on...may need me...be very careful Dean and Kota, we're all in danger." Dean hung up the phone and looked at Sam.

"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam asked slipping back into his hunter mode.

"Not bad Sammy, kinda like riding a bike, isn't?" Dean said with a proud smile on his face. "Alright, I slowed the message down and ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss and this is what I got." He said playing the same message again, but this time without their father's voice.

"I can never go home" came a woman's voice.

"Never go home" Sam repeated. Dean through the phone back into the trunk of the car and Dakota pushed the hood down.

"You know, in almost two years, we've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing." Dean said as he and Dakota leaned against the Impala. Sam let out a heavy sigh.

"Alright. I'll go. I'll help you guys find him. But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here." Said Sam.

"What's first thing Monday?" asked Dean.

"Yeah, Sammy. Got a hot date?" Dakota teased her twin.

"I have an interview." Sam said

"What a job interview? Skip it." Dean told his younger brother.

Sam looked at his siblings with a proud smirk. "It's a law school interview and it's my whole future on a plate."

"Law school?" Dean questioned. Dakota's bright forest green eyes widened as she heard what Sam said. She couldn't believe he was interviewing with a law school. She was incredible proud of her brother.

"Congrats, Sam." Dakota said with a smile.

Sam nodded his head. "So we got a deal or not?" he questioned his brother and sister.

Dean looked over at Dakota, his co-pilot, who shrugged her shoulders so Dean turned back to Sam and nodded his head in agreement. With that, Sam went back up to his apartment to pack.

..........

The Impala was stopped at a small run down gas station, Dean had run inside to grab them some food while Dakota was walking around, stretching her legs.

"Hey! You two want breakfast?" Dean asked Sam and Dakota holding up some bars and bags of chips.

"No thanks." Sam said in a slightly disgusted tone.

"I'll have whatever is the least disgusting." Dakota said.

"God, Kota! You're so high maintenance!" Dean told her throwing her a granola bar. Dakota replied by sticking her tongue out at her oldest brother.

"So how did you pay for that stuff?" Sam asked Dean in a sassy tone. "You and Dad still running credit card scams?" he asked from the passenger seat, looking through a box of cassette tapes.

"Well, hunting ain't exactly a pro-ball career." Dean told Sam as he put the gas pump back. "Besides all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards." Dean said with a smirk and Dakota threw her wrapper at him.

"Yea? And what names did you write on the application this time?" Sam asked in a still sassy tone. Dakota groaned at her twin, knowing he didn't approve of what they did, frankly she didn't always like it either, but Sam knew bringing it up with Dean would cause a fight. She couldn't understand why her brothers couldn't just get along.

"Uh...Bert Aframian and his son Hector. Scored two cards out of the deal" Dean said climbing into the driver's seat while Dakota followed her oldest brother's lead and scrambled into the back.

"Sounds about right." Said Sam as he continued to riffle through Dean's music collection. "I swear man; you have got to update your cassette-tape collection!"

"Why?" Dean and Dakota asked Sam at the same time.

"Well for one, their cassette tapes." Sam said  holding one of the tapes out to his brother. "And two, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica? It's the greatest hits of mullet rock." Dean lend over and knocked the tapes out of Sam's hand while Dakota glared at him from the backseat.

"How dare you!" Dakota scolded Sam, shocked that her twin could insult the greatest music ever made.

"House rules Sammy; driver picks the music, shot gun shuts his cakehole." Dean told Sam.

"Sammy is a chubby 12-year-old. It's Sam okay." Sam said. Dean ignored him and began singing along to the song on the radio.

"I'm sorry. I can't hear you the music's too loud." Dean teased Sam.

"As your twin, I reserve the right to call you Sammy." Dakota informed him.

"Whatever, Kota." Sam said with a small smile on his face.

.........

As the Dean, Sam, and Dakota approached Jericho Sam got on the phone to call around town to see if anyone had seen their dad.

"Alright, there's no one matching Dad's description at the hospital or morgue. So that's something I guess." Sam told them. Dakota let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding

"Check it out." Dean said as he pointed out the police cars that had gathered on the bridge and began pulling over to the side of the road. Dean put the car in park and lend over to the glove box and pulled out the box of fake IDs.

"I still have my FBI badge on me." Dakota informed Dean. He smiled at her.

"We're going Federal Marshalls this time, baby girl." And he handed Dakota her badge the he smiled at Sam and waged his eyebrows. They walked over to the crime scene where they heard two of the sheriff and officer talking.

"You fellas had another one just like this last month didn't you?" Dean questioned the officers at the scene. The sheriff looked up with a questioning gaze.

"And who are you?" he asked.

"Federal Marshalls" Dean told the man pulling out his fake credentials. The sheriff looked at the badge then back at the three newcomers in front of him.

"You three are a little young for Marshalls, aren't you?" he questioned. Sam gave the man a small polite smile.

"Well, bless your heart, sheriff." Dakota said in her sweetest voice with a smile on her plump, pink lips.

"Thanks. That's awfully kind of you." Dean said with his signature charming smile. Then he raised an eyebrow and walked towards the victim's car. "You did have another one just like this, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right. About a mile up the road." The sheriff stated. "There have been others before that." Sam nodded at this information.

"So this victim, you knew him?" Sam questioned the sheriff. Dakota kept a professional face on, but smiled inwardly at how easily Sam slipped into his role, like no time had passed.

"Town like this, everybody knows everybody." The sheriff told them. Dean was circling the victim's car, while Sam and Dakota questioned the sheriff.

"Is there any connection between the victims other than that their all men?" Dakota asked.

"No. Not so far as we can tell." The sheriff told her.

"So, what's the theory?" Sam asked walking towards Dean and the empty car.

"Honestly, we don't know." The sheriff confessed, "Serial murder, kidnapping ring?"

"Well that is the exact kind of crack police work I would expect out of you guys." Dean said with a laugh and a teasing smile. Sam smiled and kicked Dean in the shin while Dakota whipped her head around and glared at her brothers from her spot in front of the sheriff.

"Thank you for your time." Sam said politely. "Gentlemen." He nodded at the rest of the officers. Dakota watched her brothers walk away and had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as she saw Dean whack Sam in the back of the head.

"We'll call if we have any further questions." She said. And with that she turned around, throwing her mid back length, dark blond hair over her shoulder, and followed her brothers to the Impala.

"What was that for!?" She heard Sam whisper angrily at Dean.

"Why do you got to step on my foot?" Dean asked Sam in an equally angry tone.

"Why do you have to talk to police like that?" Sam sassed back.

"Why do you both have to be such children about this!?" Dakota snapped. Sam and Dean shot her a glare before returning to their argument.

"Common! They don't _really_ know what's going on. The three of us are all alone on this! I mean, if we're going to find Dad, we have to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves." Dean said.

Suddenly Dakota's face dropped and Sam gestured for Dean to turn around. Behind them were two well-dressed men and another local officer.

"Can I help you three?" said the local officer.

"No Sir. We were just leaving." Dean informed the man. "Agents Mulder, Agent Scully" Dean said to the two other men who walked by them on their way to the scene. The Winchester siblings began walking towards their car.


	2. Pilot Part 2

Dakota and her brothers were walking through the town when they spotted a girl hanging missing posters.

"I'll bet you that's her." Said Dean "Speaking of bets, where's my $30 from our bet, Kota?" Sighing, huffing, and rolling her eyes, Dakota reached into the back pocket of her ripped, black skinny jeans and pulled out her wallet hand Dean the money she owed him. Once she handed it over Dean ruffled her hair and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I can't believe you two bet on whether or not I would come with you." Sam said. Dean and Dakota both shrugged. Then they continued walking over to the girl.

"You must be Amy." Dean said to her.

"Yea" Amy confirmed in a quiet, meek voice.

"Yea, Troy told us about you. We're his uncles and aunt. I'm Dean and this is Sammy and Dakota." Dean said, introducing them to Amy.

"He never mentioned you to me." Amy said sounding very unimpressed.

Dean scoffed, "Well that's Troy, I guess. We're not around much. We're up in Modesto." Dean explained.

"So, we're looking for him too and we're kind of asking around." Sam told Amy. Just then another girl who was hanging up flier came up to Amy and asked if she was okay. After assuring the other girl she was fine, Sam continued talking, "You mind if we ask you a couple questions?"

The Winchester siblings, Amy, and Amy's friend decided to talk at the local diner.

"I was talking to Troy on the phone. He was driving home. He said he would call me right back and he never did." Amy told them.

"He didn't say anything strange or out of the ordinary?" Dakota questioned the poor girl calmly.

"No. Nothing I can remember." Amy said. Dean sighed.

"Here's the deal, ladies." Dean said leaning on his elbows on the table, addressing the two in front of him, "the way Troy disappeared, something ain't right. So if you've heard anything..." The girl's looked at each other before turning back to the three people in front of them.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"Well it's just," Amy's friend started then paused, trying to figure out how to not make her next sentence sound crazy, "I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk."

"What do they talk about?" Sam and Dean asked at the same time. Dakota looked at her brothers in slight shock. They had always talked at the same time before Sam left for Stanford, but she couldn't believe they were so back in sync after only a few hours.

Amy's friend shrugged. "It's kid of this local legend. This one girl she got murdered like decades ago." Dean looked over at Sam and saw that he was nodding along with the story. "Well, supposedly she's still out there. She hitchhikes and whoever picks her up, well they disappear forever."

..........

Dakota, Sam, and Dean went to the local library to research any deaths similar to the death that Amy's friend had described to them. Dean sat at the computer first while Sam and Dakota hung back, sipping on some coffee. When Dean's first two searches came up blank, Sam leaned over to grab the mouse from his brother.

"Here let me." Sam said only to have his hand slapped away by Dean. Sam then shoved Dean's rolling chair away from the computer. Dakota rolled her eyes at the idiots she had the privilege of sharing genes with.

"Dude!" said Dean as he rolled away, running into Dakota in the process.

"Get off of me, you loser!" Dakota said.

"You two are such control freaks." Dean muttered at them and slapped Sam's arm.

"Will you grow up!?" Dakota sassed Dean and he stuck his tongue out at her like the child he is.

"So angry spirits are born out of violent deaths, yeah?" Sam asked them.

"Yeah" Dean said in an incredibly uninterested voice.

"So maybe it's not murder." Sam said as he edited Dean's original search.

"Good one, Sammy." Dakota commented. Sam entered suicide into the search engine and one result popped up causing Dean to raise his eyebrows.

"This was 1981, a woman named Constance Welch, jumped off of a bridge and drowned." Sam said reading the article out loud to Dean and Dakota.

"Does it say way she did it?" Dean asked suddenly re-interested in the case. Or as Dakota liked to think of it, no longer pouting that Sam had taken away his computer privileges.

"Yea," Sam said with a sudden sad look on his face. "an hour before they found her, she calls 911. Her two little kids are in the bathtub, she leaves them alone for a minute, when she comes back they aren't breathing. Both die." Sam continued to read.

"That poor woman." Said Dakota in a quiet and sad voice.

"'Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bare it.' Said husband Joseph Welch" Sam said quoting directly from the article.

"That bridge look familiar to you guys?" Dean asked as he pointed to the picture of the bridge Constance had jumped off of.

..........

The Impala rolled onto the bridge and the three climbed out of the car. Dean immediately walked over to the edge and looked over.

"So this is where Constance took the swan dive?" Dean questioned.

"So, you think Dad would have been here?" Sam asked his brother.

"Most likely." Said Dakota has she pulled her jean jacket and red flannel tighter around herself in the cold air.

"Well he was chasing the same story." Dean pointed out as he walked further up the bridge.

"And were chasing him." Dakota finished for him.

"Okay. So now what?" Sam asked.

"Now we keep digging till we find him. It might take a while." Dean said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Dean, I told you. I've got to get back..." Sam said.

"By Monday. Right. The interview. I forgot about that." Dean said and both Sam and Dakota knew he was lying about not remembering. "You're really serious about this aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?" Dean asked angrily.

"Dean, leave him alone." Dakota said, but as usual when her brothers were fighting she was talked over. One of the many cons to being the youngest and shortest of the Winchesters and yet she always had to be the one to break up fights. She had this strange sense of responsibility for making sure that their family stuck together and was happy. She had already miserably failed at this when Sam left for Stanford, but she didn't want it to happen again. 

"Maybe. Why not?" Sam said continuing the fight.

"Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?" Dean said.

"No. And she's not ever going to know." Sam said taking a step closer to Dean. Dakota grabbed the back of his jacket, trying her hardest to stop a physical fight from breaking out, but being a foot shorter than Sam meant she was pretty much being dragged around by him.

"Well that's healthy!" Dean said with his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You can pretend all you want Sammy, but sooner or later you're face up to who you really are." He put on a smirk and began walking away from his siblings.

"And who's that?" Sam asked, using his moose sized legs to catch up with Dean in a few quick strides.

"You're one of us." Dean said in a cocky tone.

"Guys, stop it!" Dakota yelled, running after at her brothers.

"Stay out of this, Dakota." Dean snapped at her. She flinched, Dean never yelled at her. She could see in Dean's face that he felt guilty for lying to her, but he just continued fighting with Sam. 

"No!" Sam yelled drawing Dean's attention back to the fight at hand, "I'm not like you! I won't let this be my life!"

"You have a responsibility." Dean said in an authoritative voice.

"Will you two stop being such whining bitches!" Dakota yelled at her brothers who continued to ignore her causing her to roll her eyes.

"To what?" Sam said still fighting with Dean, "To Dad and his crusade? If it weren't for pictures Dakota and I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like."

"Sam. For the love of God. Please stop talking." Dakota begged, knowing that bring Mom into the fight would just make things even worse. Dean's face began to darken the way it always did when their mom was brought up.

"And even if Dakota and I did, what difference would it make!? Even if we do find the thing that killed her Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back." Sam told Dean, and that was the tipping point. Dakota could see Dean was about to snap a second before he lunged at Sam.

"Dean! Stop it! Get off of him!" Dakota yelled and tried to get between her two brothers as Dean shoved Sam against the bridge.

Dean looked Sam in the face with a dead serious expression and said in a scarily calm tone, "Don't talk about her like that."

"Okay! That's enough! Both of you! We are working a job right now! We can all go back to our emotional baggage when this is over!" Dakota told her brothers, causing them to finally break apart. Dean began to walk away from the twins.

Suddenly he looked over and saw a pale woman dressed in white standing on the edge of the bridge. Without taking his eyes off the women he called for Sam and Dakota who walked over to him. The woman looked over at the three and stared, then suddenly leaned forward and fell off the ledge. The Winchester's sprinted over to where she had fallen, looking into the water below for her.

"Where did she go" Dean asked.

"I don't know." Replied Sam

"Do you guys see her anywhere?" questioned Dakota. Before the boys could answer, the Impala roared to life and all three siblings look over to. Dakota realized what was going on and quietly whispered, "Oh, no."

"What the f..." Dean muttered.

"Who's driving your car?" Sam asked although he had a sneaking suspicion of the answer. Without a word, Dean pulled the car keys out of his pocket and held them up for all to see. The Impala launched forward down the bridge and Sam, Dean, and Dakota took off running. As the car started gaining on them the siblings threw themselves off the side of the bridge and hung onto the edge. Slowly Sam and Dakota began climbing back up to the top of the ledge and realized their brother was not with them.

"Dean!" they both screamed searching for their brother.

"There he is!" Dakota said pointing to the river bank where Dean had pulled himself up.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Sam asked and Dakota whacked his arm for asking such a stupid question.

"I'm super" Dean said in a sarcastic voice.

The three got back onto the bridge and a muddy and wet Dean checked on the Impala.

"Is Baby alright?" Dakota asked.

"Yeah, she's fine now. What's she did to it must be gone now." Dean explained. "Man, that Constance chick, what a BITCH!" he said, screaming the last part as though the ghost would hear him.

"Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure." Sam said, focusing on the case. "So what's the plan from here, genius?" Dean threw his arm up in a dramatic shrug.

"Do we ever have a plan?" Dakota asked teasing Dean.

"You will be silent and respect your elders!" Dean yelled back at her and she giggled at him.

"You smell like a toilet." Sam told Dean who simply glared ahead.

..........

"One room please." Dean asked the man at the motel front desk, throwing his credit card down. The man at the counter must have thought they were crazy, two boys, one covered in mud, and a girl checking into one motel room in a small town, but if he thought anything strange he didn't voice it. He simple grabbed the card.

"You guys having a reunion, or something?" the man asked.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked him.

"Another guy came in and bought out a room for the whole month." He explained to them. Dean and Sam shared a confused look which only made the man at the front desk look confused.

"Yup. That's Daddy." Dakota explained, "Always insists on being early." The man seemed to except this explanation.

They went to check out the room their dad had rented. They looked around the room and saw that the walls were covered in papers all relating to the hunt they were on and they split up to look around the room. Dakota headed for the window to check if the salt lines were still intact.

"I don't think he's been here for a couple days, at least." Dean informed them while Sam checked out the other salt rings in the room.

"Salt. Cat's Eye shells. He was worried." Dakota pointed out.

"What have you got here?" Sam asked walking over to where Dean was staring at some of the papers on the wall.

"Highway victims." Dean stated. "I don't get it. I mean, their different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicity. There's always a connection." All three were looking at different walls for information. Sam turned on of the lamps on and let out a small laugh.

"Dad figured it out." He said. Dean and Dakota walked over to see what he was looking at that had led him to this conclusion. "He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's a Woman in White." Dean turned to look at the wall of victims.

"You sly dog." He said "Alright, if we're dealing with a Woman in White, Dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it."

"Maybe she has another weakness." Dakota guessed.

"No. Dad would want to be sure. He'd dig her up. Does it say where she's buried?" Dean asked.

"No, not that I can tell." Sam said, reviewing the article. "If I were Dad, I'd go ask her husband."

"If he's still alive." Dakota stated.

"You two look and see if you can find an address. I'm going to go cleaned up." Dean said, still coated in river water. Before he could slip into the bathroom, Sam stopped him.

"Hey. What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad. I just..." Sam stated, but Dean cut him off.

"Dude, no chickflick moments." Dean said.

"Alright. Jerk."

"Bitch." And with that Dean went into the bathroom to shower.

"Don't let him lie to you." Dakota said "He loves chickflicks. He watches Clueless and The Princess Bride with me whenever they're on." She told Sam with a smirk.

"Your awesome, Bug." Sam said, calling her by of the many nicknames he had for his baby sister.

"I know." She smirked before turning back to their dad's research.

When Dean got out of the shower Sam was on his phone listening to his messages and Dakota had her headphones in and was lying on the bed listening to music.

"I'm starving. I'm going to go get us some food. You guys want anything?" Dean asked.

"No" Sam said still on his phone. Dakota opened her mouth to answer, but Dean cut her off.

"Let me guess. A strawberry milkshake with French fries?" Dean asked her.

"You know me so well, De." She said with a smile.

Almost as soon as Dean left the room Sam got a call from him. He put the call on speaker for Dakota.

"What?" Sam asked

"Guys! 5-0. Take off." Dean said quickly.

"What about you?" Sam asked as he and Dakota stood up to leave the room.

"Um...they kinda spotted me." Dean answered. "Go find Dad!" and then he hung up.

..........

Sam and Dakota made their way over to Constance husband, Joseph's, house.

"Hi. Are you Joseph Welch?" Sam asked the man. They went about with the usual niceties involved with interviews and Sam pulled out the photo he had found in their dad's room and showed it to Joseph, asking him if he had seen their dad.

"Yep. That's him." Joseph confirmed. "He came by three, four days ago. Said he was a reporter."

"That's right." Said Sam.

"We're working on a story together." Said Dakota.

"Well I don't know what the Hell kinda story your working on." Joseph said. "The questions he asked me."

"About your wife, Constance?" Sam asked.

"He asked me where she was buried."

"And where is that again?" Dakota asked Joseph.

"What? I gotta go through this twice?" he asked

"It's fact checking." Sam explained. "If you don't mind."

"In a plot by my old place."

"Why did you move?" Dakota asked, more for her own curiosities sake than for actual facts on the case.

"I'm not gonna live in the house where my children died." Joseph told tell with a voice heavy with sorrow.

"Mr. Welch, did you ever marry again?" Sam asked.

"No way. Constance, she was the love of my life. Prettiest woman I've ever known."

"So you had a happy marriage?" Sam asked with a wistful smile on his face.

"Definitely." Joseph said, but Dakota noticed a slight hesitation before he answered the question and shot Sam a look. Sam looked at her and nodded before turning back to Joseph.

"Well, that should do it. Thank you for your time." Sam said politely. The twins walked over to the car and Sam began to unlock it then stopped.

"Sammy, what are you doing?" Dakota asked.

"Trust me." He said, then he turned to Joseph, "Mr. Welch? Have you ever heard of a Woman in White?"

"A what?" he asked.

"A Woman in White" Sam repeated.

"Or sometimes called a Weeping Woman." Dakota said, realizing where her brother was going with this line of questioning.

"It's a ghost story. Well, really it's more of a phenomenon." Sam began walking towards the man they had been questioning. "Their spirits. They've been sighted for centuries. They've been spotted in different places."

"All of them are different women, you understand? But all share the same story" Dakota said as she too began to walk towards Mr. Welch.

"See, when they were alive, their husbands were unfaithful to them. And these women, basically suffering from temporary insanity, killed their children. And once they realized what they had done, they took their own lives." Sam continued.

"And know their spirits are cursed." Dakota informed him. "And if they find an unfaithful man, they kill him."

"You think...you think that has something to do with Constance. You smartasses!" Joseph accused them.

Sam threw the man his signature bitchface and said "You tell me."

"Now maybe...maybe I made some mistakes. But no matter, what I did, Constance would have never killed her own children! Now you get the Hell out of here. And you don't come back!" He said with tears in his eyes.

..........

Sam and Dakota were driving over to Constance and Joseph's old house when Dakota got a call from Dean which she put on speaker so Sam, who was driving could talk.

"A fake 911 phone call, I don't know guys. That's pretty illegal." Dean teased them.

"You're welcome." Dakota said.

"Listen, we gotta talk." Dean said with all the teasing in his voice suddenly gone.

"Tell me about it! So the husband was unfaithful. We are dealing with a Woman in White. And she's buried behind her old house, so that should've been Dad's next stop." Sam relayed to Dean.

"Sammy, will shut up for a second." Dean snapped over the phone.

"I just can't figure out why he hasn't destroyed the corpse yet." Dakota commented, completely ignoring Dean's request for them to be quiet.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you! He's gone. Dad's left Jericho." Dean said.

"What?" Dakota asked.

"How do you know" Sam questioned.

"I got his journal." Dean said. The twins shared a look.

"Dad never goes anywhere without that thing." Sam said.

"Yeah, well, he did this time." Dean said.

"What's it say?" Dakota asked.

"Ugh. The same old ex-Marine crap he always leaves when he wants to tell us where he's going." Dean complained.

"Coordinates." Sam said. "Where to?"

"Not sure yet." Dean said.

"Dean what the Hell is going on?" Sam questioned.

"Sammy! Look out!" Dakota screamed from the passenger seat. Sam looked back up at the road and saw Constance standing in the middle of the road. He slammed on the breaks and threw an arm out in front of Dakota. They drove straight threw her before the Impala came to a stop. Dean was yelling for them on the phone still. Suddenly a voice came from the back of the car.

"Take me home." It commanded.

"No." said Sam. All the doors and windows locked.

"Sam, please tell me that was you." Dakota whispered. Sam simply shook his head. The car started driving itself down the road while Sam and Dakota frantically struggled to get out of the locked, moving car. Before they knew it they were in front of Constance's old house.

"Don't do this." Dakota begged the spirit.

"I can never go home." She said in a sad voice staring at her house.

"You're scared to go home." Sam said to the spirit. He looked behind him, but Constance was gone. Dakota gasped as Constance appeared in the middle seat between her and Sam. Constance climbed onto Sam's lap and Dakota found herself pinned to the seat unable to do anything other than watch in disgust as Constance tried to seduce her brother.

"You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful! I've never been!" Sam told the ghost. The ghost leaned in and whispered something in his ear that Dakota couldn't make out. She leaned down and kissed Sam.

"Get your nasty ghost self away from my brother." Dakota yelled, struggling against Constance's hold on her. Sam reached forward for the keys to restart the car and then Constance disappeared. The two looked around for a moment before Sam let out a scream of pain.

"Sammy!" Dakota yelled reaching for her brother as Constance reappeared on top of him, digging her fingers through his chest. Suddenly several gun shots were fired and Dakota and Dean looked over to see their big brother shooting at the ghost. Once Constance disappeared once again, Sam sat up and turned the car on.

"I'm taking you home." He said before punching the gas, driving straight for the house.

"Are you crazy!? You're going to hurt Baby!" Dakota screamed at him. Sam threw his sister his best bitchface.

"Sam! Dakota! You two okay?" they heard Dean yell as he entered the house and opened the car door to see for himself if they were alright.

"I think so" Sam answered Dean. Dakota let out a groan not of pain, but of annoyance at being forced to drive threw a house.

"Can you move?" He asked Sam who was more pinned than their sister.

"Yes. Help me." Sam said and Dean reached over to get Sam out of the Impala. Once they were all safely out of the car, they looked over and noticed Constance was standing there holding an old photo frame. Then she threw the photo down and moved a dresser to pin the Winchester's against their car. She started to close in on them when the lights began to flicker and water started to cascade down the stairs. The siblings and the ghost looked at the top of the stairs where two ghost children stood.

"You've come home to us, Mommy." The children said in a terrifying voice as they grabbed hands. The children suddenly appeared in front of Constance and grabbed her before they all seemed to melt away into a puddle of water. They Winchesters pushed the dresser off of them and went to see where the ghosts had disappeared.

"So, this is where she drowned her kids?" Dean asked. A

"That's why she could never go home." Sam said.

"She was too scared to face them." Dakota added.

"We found her weak spot. Nice work Sammy. Kota." Dean said clapping Sam on the chest and Sam burst out laughing.

"Yeah. I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?" Sam asked.

"Hey! It saved y'alls asses." Dean said with a smile before turning to his beloved car. "I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car, I'll kill you!" he told Sam checking his baby out for any damage.

..........

The three were back in the only slightly banged up Impala with Sam and Dean in the front and Dakota in the backseat holding the flashlight for Sam who was checking a map for the coordinated their dad had left them.

"Okay, here's where Dad went. It's called Blackwater Ridge, CO."

"Sounds charming." Dean said sarcastically. "How far?"

"About 600 miles."

"We shag ass, we can make it by morning." Dean said, smiling at Sam.

"Um, aren't you forgetting something Dean?" Dakota asked him.

"Dean...um...I..." Sam stuttered.

"You aren't going?" Dean asked him.

"The interview's in 10 hours. I gotta be there." Sam tried to explain.

"Yeah. Whatever." Dean said with a forced smile and chuckle. "We'll take you home."

..........

Sam climbed out of the car with his duffel bag and Dakota got out, hugged her twin, and climbed into the passenger seat. Sam bent down and looked into the car at his siblings.

"Maybe I can meet up with you later?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. Alright." Dean said.

"I'd love that." Said Dakota. Sam tapped the door and started to walk away. Dean started the car before calling Sam back.

"Sam. You know we made a Hell of a team back there." Dean said with his charming smile.

"Yeah." Sam said.

"Don't wait two years to talk to us again!" Dakota yelled after Sam.

Dakota and Dean drove away. They were barely a mile from Sam's dorm when the street lights started flickering and the radio in the car turned to static. Dakota and Dean shared a knowing look.

"Oh shit", Dakota whispered more to herself than to Dean.

The car quickly swung around and sped back to the dorms. They race up the stairs to Sam's apartment. Upon hearing Sam's screams Dean broke the door down and they sprinted to the bedroom, when the two got in to Sam's room they both stood in shock staring at the fire above them. Neither of them thought that this would ever happen to them again. Sam was laying on the bed screaming Jessica's name, Dean ran to grab Sam, but he struggled, desperate to save Jess. Dean called Dakota over to help him get a struggling Sam out of the apartment and to safety.

..........

Dean and Dakota stood behind the police tape watching the fire department put out the fire that had killed their brother's girlfriend. They walked over to the Impala where Sam was loading guns into the trunk. Sam looked at them as they approached with tear stains on his cheeks. Dean and Dakota looked at Sam with looks of concern painted on their faces. Sam finished loading the shotgun he was holding and threw the gun in the trunk.

"We've got work to do." He said and slammed the trunk closed.


	3. Wendigo Part 1

Dakota and Dean watched as Sam woke himself up from a dream with a start and looked at him with the same worried faces they had had since the night Jess died.

"You okay?" Dakota asked in a sweet yet concerned voice while Dean shot him a worried look. They both wanted to comfort Sam, but didn't want to seem over bearing, scared he might shut them out if they were.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Sam answered.

"Another nightmare?" Dean asked him. Sam didn't answer so Dean tried a different tactic to get him to talk. "Wanna drive?"

"WHAT!!!" Dakota yelled, she always had to beg to drive and even then, Dean only let her when he was desperate for sleep or too injured to drive. Dean shot her a look that told her to shut up.

"Dean. Your whole life, you have never asked me that." Sam said with a small, disbelieving smile on his face.

"Just thought you might want to. Never mind." Dean said, trying to appear as though he wasn't sick with worry over his little brother.

"Look guys, your worried about me. I get it and thank you. But I'm perfectly okay." Sam told them. "Where are we?" Sam asked. Dakota handed him the map she had been holding while he was sleeping.

"We are just outside of Grand Junction." Dean informed him.

"Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon." Sam said. Dean sighed and Dakota pursed her lips.

"Sammy, we looked around there for a week and we didn't find anything." Dakota gently reminded him.

"Yea, if you want to find the thing that killed Jess..." Dean stated before Sam cut him off.

"We gotta find Dad first." Sam finished not looking up from the map.

"Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after 20 years. It's no coincidence." Dean said. "Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do."

"It's weird. The coordinates he left us. There's nothing there. It's just woods." Dakota said leaning over Sam's shoulder to look at the map.

"Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?" Sam asked. Dean gave a shrug for an answer. Dakota stretched herself out across the entire back bench of the car and took off her jean jacket to through over her as a blanket.

"Wake me when we get there." She mumbled already half asleep.

"Will do, Baby Girl." Dean said.

..........

Once they got to Lost Creek, CO they found an information lodge.

"So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote. It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest. Silver and gold mines all over the place." Sam explained as he and Dakota looked over the topographical map on display while Dean was looking at the various photos on the wall.

"Dude. Check out the size of this freakin' bear." Dean said. The twins slowly turned their heads to look at Dean in disbelief.

"Dean, we're working a case! Focus!" Dakota said.

"And there are a couple dozen or so grizzlies in the area." Sam said, continuing his list of things he had learned in his research of the area. "It's no nature hike. That's for sure." All three siblings were now standing and staring that the photo of the bear.

"You three aren't planning to get out by Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" said a new voice in the room. They turned around and saw a park ranger standing behind them.

"No, sir. We're environmental study majors from UC Boulder." Sam said.

"We're just working on a paper." Dakota said, following Sam's lead.

"Recycle, man!" said Dean in what Dakota believed might be an attempt on Dean's part to act like he cared about the planet.

"Bull!" the ranger said. The three siblings looked at each other wondering what gave their cover away. "You're friends with that Haley girl, aren't you?"

"Yes. Yes, we are Ranger Wilkinson." Dean said. Wilkinson let out a humorless laugh.

"Well I will tell you what I told her. Her brother filled out a permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the 24th. So it's not exactly a missing person now, is it?" Dean and Dakota shook their heads, trying to gain some trust in the ranger. "Tell that girl to quit worrying! Her brother is just fine."

"We will." Dakota told the ranger, although she had no intention of telling this poor girl that. If one of her brothers went missing she would be a mess trying to find and save them.

"That Haley girl is quite a pistol, isn't she?" Dean asked with his charming smile.

"That would be putting it mildly." Ranger Wilkinson said.

"You know what would help? If I could have a copy of that permit, just so she could see her brothers return date." Dean said. Ranger Wilkinson agreed and got them a copy. They walked out of the lodge. Dean laughed when he walked out towards the Impala with the permit.

"What are you crusin' for a hookup, or something?" Sam asked Dean in a snippy tone.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge so why don't we just go find Dad? I mean, why even talk to this girl?" Sam asked in a voice that demanded an answer.

"I don't know." Dean said in a sarcastic voice, "Maybe we should know what we're walking into before we walk into it."

"Yea, since when are you a 'shoot first, ask question later' kinda guy?" Dakota asked Sam.

"Since now!" Sam said and he slid into the passenger seat, ending the discussion. Dakota and Dean looked at each other before getting into the car as well.

..........

When Dean knocked on the door a petite girl with big blue-green eyes and shoulder length black wavy hair answered.

"You must be Haley." Dean said "I'm Dean, this is Sam and Dakota. We're rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We wanted to ask you some questions about your brother, Tommy." Haley looked at them skeptically. Dakota thought this was understandable. At 26, Dean could just barely pass as a park ranger and even though Sam was tall, he diffidently looked 22. Dakota thought that at 5'5, with a face full of freckles, a button nose, and a small gap between her two front teeth, she must look like a teenager next to her brothers.

"Let me see some ID." Haley said. Dean and Dakota pulled out their badges, they hadn't had time to make Sam any yet.

"Common in" Haley said opening the screen door for them. Dean grabbed it from her and thanked her. Haley seemed to be looking past them.

"That yours?" She asked. The three turned around and saw that she was talking about the Impala.

"Yea." Dean said with the hint of pride he always had in his tone when he talked about his baby.

"Nice car." Haley said and she looked over her shoulder at Dean as she walked into the house. Dean held the screen door for his little siblings and Sam began with the line of questioning.

"So, if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know somethings wrong? Sam asked Haley who was setting the table with dishes and food.

"He checks in everyday by cell, e-mails, photos, stupid little videos" Haley explained, "But we haven't heard anything in over three days now."

"Maybe he can't get cell reception." Sam said and Haley shook her head.

"He has a satellite phone, too."

"Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?" Dean asked. Dakota knew this could be a possibility. She had spent many nights in motel room by herself or with Sam while Dean would go hang out at a bar once he was old enough to pass for 21. A younger man, only a few years younger than Dakota and Sam looked up at Dean.

"He wouldn't do that!" The boy said, sounding furious that Dean would even suggest that.

"Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me." Haley told them. "We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

"I know how you feel." Dakota said with a smile.

"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" Sam asked. Haley agreed and went to pull them up on the computer. She pointed out which boy in the photos was Tommy. Haley played on of the videos Tommy had sent her and Dakota noticed a fast moving shadow in the background.

"Well, we'll find your brother." Dean assured Haley. "We are heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing."

"We are?" Dakota mouthed at Dean who gave her a small, subtle nod.

"Then maybe I'll see you there." Haley said walking away from the computer. Sam, Dean, and Dakota gave each other confused looks. "I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guide. I'm heading out in the morning and I'm going to find Tommy myself."

Dean nodded and said "I think I know how you feel."

"Hey. Would you mind forwarding these to me?" Sam asked her.

..........

The three siblings were at a bar reviewing all the information they had on the case along with the videos and photos Haley had sent them.

Sam pulled out their dad's hunting journal and his laptop and said, "So Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Campers and hikers mostly, but still. This past April two hikers went missing out there and were never found."

"Anything before that?" Dean asked.

"Yes. In 1982 eight people went missing, and again in 1959, and again in 1936. Every 23 years like clockwork" Sam told them as he handed the articles to his siblings. Sam opened his computer to look at the video Haley had shown them earlier that had the mysterious, fast moving shadow in the background. "I downloaded that guy Tommy's video and check this out." He said and he played the video shot by shot for them.

"That's only three frames!" Dakota said, surprised that something could move that fast.

"It's a fraction of a second." Sam reiterated. "Whatever that thing is, it can move."

Dean hit Sam in the chest. "Told you something was going on."

Dakota rolled her eyes at her oldest brother and said, "Yeah. Real mature, Dean."

"Yea. I got one more thing. In 1959, one camper survived the so called grizzly attack, just a kid. He barely crawled out of the woods alive.

"Let's go talk to him." Dakota said standing up to leave.

..........

"Look, rangers, I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's public record, my parents go mauled by a..." the man said.

"...Grizzly?" Sam said finishing the story for him. "That's what attacked them?" the old man removed the cigarette that was resting between his lips and nodded.

"The other people who went missing that year, those were bear attacks too?" Dean asked the man.

"What about all the people who went missing this year? Same thing?" Dakota asked when he didn't respond to Dean's question.

"If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it." Dean told him, trying to pry the truth from the older man.

"I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make. You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did." The man said as he sat down.

"We'll believe you." Dakota said.

"Tell us what you saw." Sam said sitting down across from the man.

"Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it though. A roar. Like no man or animal I ever heard." He said recalling the events of that horrible night.

Sam looked back at Dean and Dakota before turning back to the man and telling more than asking, "It came at night".

"It got inside our cabin. I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't break in through the windows or door. It unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that can do that?" he asked. The three looked at each other, thinking they might have an idea of what could. "I didn't even wake up until I heard my parents scream and..."

"It killed them?" Dakota asked playing with the necklace around her neck.

"Dragged them off into the night." The man confirmed. "Why it left me alive, I've been asking myself that ever since. It did leave me this though." And he pulled the collar of his shirt down and over so the Winchester's could see the four raised scars going across his shoulder and down his chest. "There's something evil in those woods. It was some kind of a demon." Dakota knew as well as her brothers did that it was most diffidently not a demon, but she didn't interrupt him.

The three left the man's house and Dean pointed out what they had all been thinking.

"Spirits and demons don't need to unlock doors if they want inside. They can just go through walls." He said once they were out of ear shot.

"So it's probably something else, something corporeal." Sam said.

"'Corporeal'? Excuse me, Professor." Dean mocked.

"Yea. Nice SAT work, Sam." Dakota teased.

"Shut up. What do you think?" Sam asked his siblings

"The claws, the speed it moves. Could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog. Whatever it is we are talking about a creature and it's 'corporeal'." Dean said continuing to tease. Sam rolled his eyes in response.

"Which means we can kill it." Dakota summed up.

..........

Sam, Dean, and Dakota went out to the Impala before day-break to begin packing their weapons for the hunt.

"We can't let that Haley girl go out there by herself." Sam said.

"What do you want to tell her? She can't go into the woods because of the big, scary monster?" Dean asked.

"Yes!" Sam said. Dakota tried to reason with Sam, who had been making an uncomfortable amount of impulsive decisions about this hunt.

"Sam, her brother is missing. She's not just going to sit this one out." Dakota said.

"Yea." Dean agreed, "We go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our predator friend." Sam looked at them both like they were crazy.

"So finding Dad's not enough," He asked slamming the trunk, "now we gotta babysit too?" Dean stared at Sam wondering what was going on inside his brother's head. "What?" Sam asked in an angry tone.

"Nothing." Said Dean and he threw the duffel bag of weapons at Sam before walking towards the driver side.

"Please don't kill each other." Dakota said.

"No promises." Sam said as he started towards the car.

..........

The Impala rolled up to Haley, her brother Ben, and the guide she had hired who wear already packed and about to take off. Haley put her hands on her hips when she saw them getting out of the car.

"You guys got room for three more?" Dean asked.

'Wait. You guys want to come with us?" Haley asked, surprised that three strangers would want to help her find her missing brother.

"Who are these guys?" the guide asked. Sam started walking over to Ben leaving Dakota and Dean to deal with the guide and Haley.

"Apparently this is all that the park service could muster up for the search and rescue." Haley said.

"You three are rangers?" The guide asked.

"Yea, that's right." Dakota told him.

"And you two are hiking out in biker boots and jeans." Haley asked. Dean and Dakota looked down at themselves.

"Well honey, I don't do shorts." Dean said and then smiled at Haley.

"What you think this is funny? There dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt." The guide snapped, not approving of Dean's flirting.

"Trust me. I know how dangerous it is." Dean said.

"We just want to help them find their brother, that's all." Said Dakota.


	4. Wendigo Part 2

After a few hours of walking through nothing but trees, they were still in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees.

"De! I'm tired." Dakota complained. She wasn't really that tired, she just didn't feel like walking the rest of the way and wanted Dean to carry her

"Sorry Baby Girl. Not going to happen."

"Ugh! Sammy can I have a piggyback ride?" Dakota asked with puppy dog eyes that could possibly rival Sam's.

"Sure thing, Mouse." Sam said and he bent down to let her hop onto his back. She scrambled onto her twins back.

"Onward, Moose!" She said pointing forward. Dakota and Sam had been calling each other Mouse and Moose ever since Sam shot up in height when they were sixteen, leaving poor 5'4 Dakota in the dust.

Haley pulled Dean off the path for a moment to talk to him. Sam and Dakota stopped to see if they needed to intervene, but when Dean nodded that he was okay, they continued forward. After another 30 or so minutes of hiking Roy announced that they had reached Blackwater Ridge. Dakota slipped off of Sam's back and looked around the small clearing they were standing in.

"What coordinates are we at?" Sam asked. Roy pulled out his satellite map.

"35, -11" Roy informed them. The Winchester's huddled together in the middle of the clearing.

"You hear that?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Not even crickets." Sam responded in an ominous tone.

"It's always creepy when there's no noise in a forest." Dakota said, having been on one too many hunts in wooded areas that all start with silence.

"I'm going to take a look around." Roy said.

"You shouldn't go off by yourself." Said Sam.

"That's sweet." Roy said in a condescending tone. "Don't worry about me."

"Ass." Dakota muttered under her breath after Roy had shoved his way through the family huddle Dean nodded at his sister's statement.

"Alright. Everybody stays together. Let's go." Dean ordered as he led the group further into the woods. After a little bit of walking they heard Roy yell for Haley and the group sprinted to where they heard his voice coming from. They came across another clearing, this one bigger than the first one they stopped at. There they found a destroyed camping ground with several blood splatters."

"Oh my God." Haley whispered.

"Looks like a grizzly." Said Roy. Then Haley began yelling Tommy's name, Sam and Dakota rushed over to shush her.

"Sam. Dakota." Dean yelled from somewhere just beyond the camp site. They found him hunched over something on the ground. As they got closer they saw that they were tracks. "The bodies were dragged from the campsite, but here they just stop. It's weird."

"That's no skinwalker or black dog." Dakota commented as they walked back to join the group. They saw Haley crying and Dakota and Dean went over to comfort her.

"Hey. He might still be alive." Dean said with a gentle smile, trying to reassure the crying girl.

"Yeah. Don't lose hope!" Dakota said just as a loud cry for help ripped through the woods. Roy, Dean, and Dakota grabbed their guns and the whole group went running towards the scream. They all froze when the screams stopped.

"It sounded like it was coming from here, didn't it?" Haley asked.

"Everybody back to camp!" Sam ordered. When they got back to their camp all their packs where missing.

"What the Hell is going on?" Haley asked.

"It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help." Sam stated

"You mean someone? Someone out there just stole all our gear." Roy said. Sam grabbed his brother and sister and stated to drag them away from the group.

"I need to talk to you two. In private." Sam said.

"Okay." Sam said once he was satisfied that they were far enough away as to not be over heard, but close enough to help if trouble showed up. "Let me see Dad's journal. Alright, check it out." Handing Dean back the journal. Dakota looked over Dean's shoulder at the page Sam had given them to look at.

Dakota snorted and said, "Oh common. A Wendigo?"

"Those are in the Minnesota woods and northern Michigan! I've never heard of one this far west!" Dean told him.

"Yea, but think about it guys. The claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." Sam explained.

"Great." Said Dakota, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"So this is useless." Dean said holding up his gun.

"We've got to get these people to safety." Sam said in the authoritative tone he seemed to be using since they started this hunt, and he walked back to the group, followed by his older brother and twin sister. As Sam approached Haley, Ben, and Roy he announced, "Alright. It's time to go. Things have gotten...more complicated." He stopped, staring into the woods beyond the clearing.

"What?" Haley asked both about needing to move and Sam's break in his explanation.

"Kid. I think I can handle whatever is out there." Roy said. Dakota was getting extremely frustrated with the way this man was treating her and her brothers.

"It's not me I'm worried about." Sam said, "If you shoot this thing you're only going to make it angry. We need to leave. Now!"

"One, you don't know what you're talking about. And two, you're in no position to give anyone orders." Roy snapped.

"Will you shut up!" Dakota finally yelled, something she had been wanting to do since the first time Roy opened his mouth.

"We never should have let you come out here in the first place. We're trying to protect you." Sam continued to argue.

"You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you goodnight!" Roy said taking a step closer to Dean. Dakota tensed at the mention of their mom. She glanced over and saw that Dean looked ready to start throwing punches.

"Yeah! It's a damn near perfect hunter. Smarter than you. And it's going to hunt you down and eat you alive, unless we get your stupid, sorry ass out of here." Sam said in full bitchface mode. Roy laughed in Sam's face. Dakota saw the situation was getting out of hand and started to walk over to break up the fight, she could see Dean following her in the corner of her eye.

"You know you're crazy right?" Roy laughed.

"Yeah? You ever hunt a Wend..." Sam started to say before Dakota slapped her hand over his mouth and Dean shoved Sam away from Roy.

"Boys! Stop!" Haley yelled. "Look. Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him." Dean looked at Dakota and Sam and knew that they would all do the same thing if they were put in Haley's position.

"It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night." Dean explained.

"We can't beat this thing, not when it's dark." Dakota said.

"We need to settle in and protect ourselves." Dean continued.

"How?" asked Haley.

..........

Night had fallen and the Winchesters were warding symbols around the camp

"What are those symbols for again?" Haley asked. Even though Dakota was closer to her, Dean rushed in to answer her question. Dakota smirked at her big brother's flirting.

"There for protection. The Wendigo can't crossover." Dean explained to her. Roy laughed at the idea of something supernatural being after them. Dakota scowled at him. "No one likes a skeptic, Roy." Dean said sassily. Dean went over to talk to Sam who was sitting quietly away from the rest of the group. Dakota was worried about Sam, but knew that someone needed stay with the civilians, she could talk to her brother later. She sat down on the log next to Haley and Ben.

"I don't suppose y'all have stuff for s'mores?" Dakota asked, trying to lighten the mood, but also genuinely curious since she had barely eaten today . Haley and Ben looked at her like she was crazy so Dakota stopped talking and stared at the fire instead. After a moment of silence she walked over to join her brothers, just in time to see Dean crouch down in front of Sam and hold out their dad's journal. As she got closer she could hear the conversation.

"This is why." Dean said to Sam. Dakota could only assume they were talking about their dad and the journal, "This book. This is Dad's most valuable possession. Everything he knows about everything evil is in this book. And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know? Saving people, hunting things, the family business!" Dean said and Dakota smiled at the statement. Sam's face, however, held a frown.

"That makes no sense! Why...why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants tell us where he is?" Sam asked.

"Because he's Dad! That's what he always does!" Dakota exclaimed.

"I don't know why, Sammy. But the way I see it, Dad has given us a job to do. And I intend to do it." Dean said.

"Dean...no. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can thing about." Sam said in a desperate voice. Dakota walked over from where she was standing behind Dean and hugged her twin.

"Okay. Alright. Sam, we'll find them. I promise. Listen to me. You've got to prepare yourself, I mean, this search could take a while. And all that anger, you can't keep that burning over the long haul. It's going to kill you. You've got to have patience man" Dean said in a worried voice and Dakota buried her face in Sam's chest.

Sam shook his head and then looked at Dean and said "How do you two do it? How does Dad do it?"

"Well for starters them." Dean said gesturing to Haley and Ben, "I figure, our family is so screwed to Hell maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little more bearable. I'll tell you what else helps killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can." Dean gave a smile prompting both his younger siblings to give smile back. Suddenly a cry for help ripped its way through the forest. The three ran back over to the rest of the group and began to look through the trees to see if they could spot it.

"It's trying to draw us out." Dakota said

"Everyone stay cool. Stay put." Dean said

"Inside the magic circle, right?" Roy mocked. Dakota swung herself around to look at the man.

"Ya wanna know what?" She said and before she could follow through with a threat, Dean grabbed her arm to stop her from attacking. There was a loud roar and the screams stopped.

"Okay. That's no grizzly" Roy commented. A shadow faster than anything any of the group had seen before ran by them. Haley shrieked and grabbed Ben's arm.

"It's here." Sam said in an ominous voice. Roy started firing shots.

"I hit it!" he yelled and ran out of the circle to see the so called monster he had shot.

"Roy! No!" Dean yelled after him. Dean turned and pointed to Haley and Ben and told them to stay put before he, Sam, and Dakota took off after Roy. As they got closer his cries of triumph stopped and they lost his trail.

..........

The next morning Sam had gone off to sit by himself again. Dakota had started to follow, but was stopped by Dean.

"Just give him some time. He's been through a lot. I know you're worried about him. Hell, so am I, but he needs to think things through right now." He explained genteelly and Dakota nodded.

"I...I don't understand." They heard from behind them They turned around to find Haley kneeling in the clearing. "These kinds of things aren't supposed to be real."

"I wish I could tell you different." Dean said sincerely.

"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" She asked. Dakota once again answered, but yet again she was cut off by Dean, who always had a way being so extra helpful to pretty girls involved in cases.

"We don't. But we're safe for now." Dean said, throwing in a charming smile, just for good measure.

"How do you know so much about this stuff?" Haley questioned. Dean paused before answering her.

"Kinda runs in the family." He said. Sam walked back over to the group.

"So we have half a better chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch." Sam said and Dean shot him a surprised and yet proud look.

"Well, Hell. You know I'm in." Dean said.

"I'm always up for killing evil sons of bitches." Said Dakota. Sam pulled out their dad's journal and started to explain what they were hunting to Haley and Ben.

"Wendigo is an Indian word which means evil that devours." Sam explained opening the page about Wendigos in their dad's hunting journal.

"They're hundreds of years old." Dakota explained.

"See, each one was once a man, sometimes an Indian, other times a pioneer, or miner, or hunter." Dean told them as he started to gather what little supplies they had left that could be useful in the hunt.

"How does a man turn into that?" Haley asked.

"Well it's always the same story. During one harsh winter, guy finds himself starving and cut off from supplies or help, becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp." Dean said.

"Like the Donner Party." Ben said.

"Exactly like the Donner Party." Dakota explained.

"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives people certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality." Sam said.

"If you eat enough of it, over years you become this less than human thing." Dean explained."

"And your always hungry." Dakota said.

"So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" Haley asked.

"You're not going to like it." Dean warned her.

"Tell me!" Haley demanded

"More than anything, Wendigos know how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time and when it's awake it keeps it victims alive. It stores them. So it can feed whenever it wants. So if your brother's alive it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. And we gotta track it back there." He explained.

"And how do we stop it." She asked.

"Well guns and knives won't work so basically we gotta torch this sucker." Dakota said.

........

The group started walking through the forest looking for anything the Wendigo could be using as it's lair. Sam walked ahead to scout the area and yelled back for his siblings to join him.

"What is it?" Dean asked and then noticed that Sam was looking up. He and Dakota slowly tipped their heads back and noticed long claw marks going up the trees around them.

"Somethings not right about this..." Dakota said slowly.

Sam walked over to where Dean and Dakota were standing and whispered, "Ya know. Those claw marks are so clear and distinct they were almost too easy to follow."

Suddenly, the Wendigo let out a roar. They group huddled close and scanned the area with their eyes for the creature. After just a few seconds of silence Haley let out a blood curdling scream and they turned around just in time to see Roy's body fall from the tops of the trees. Dean yelled for them to run and shoved everyone in front of him. They got separated when Ben tripped and Dakota and Sam stopped to help him up, while Dean and Haley ran ahead, not noticing their missing siblings. Sam, Dakota, and Ben heard Haley scream just ahead of them, but by the time they got there, Haley and Dean were gone.

"Dean!" Sam and Dakota screamed.

After a few minutes of regrouping, Ben asked, "So, if it keeps it victims alive, why did it kill Roy."

"No idea. But probably because he was a dick." Dakota answered.

"Honestly, I think it's because Roy shot at it and pissed it off." Sam said. Ben bent down and picked something up before calling Sam and Dakota over.

"They went this way!" he called, almost sounding excited. Between his fingers laid an M&M.

"That's definitely Dean." Dakota smirked.

Sam laughed and said, "Better than bread crumbs."

They followed the trail to an old mine. They were walking along the old mine cart tracks when they heard a growl. Sam grabbed Ben and Dakota by the back of their jackets and shoved them against the wall. They saw the outline of the Wendigo against the light coming in from the month of the tunnel. Ben opened his mouth to scream, but Dakota threw her hand over his mouth and Sam quietly shushed him. Once the Wendigo was gone they started walking again until they heard creaking. Dakota looked down and saw they were standing over a hole in the ground covered by a few pieces of wood. Before she could say anything the wood gave out beneath them and they fell into deeper level of the mine. When they looked up they saw Dean and Haley with chains around their wrist, hanging from the ceiling. Dakota and Sam rushed to their brother's side.

"Dean! You okay?" Sam asked once he woke him.

"Yea." Dean answered. They got Dean and Haley down at sat them against the wall.

"You sure you're alright?" Dakota asked.

"Yeah. Yeah. Where is it?" Dean said.

"It's gone for now." Sam responded. Then Haley gasped and her and Ben hobbled over to the other side of the space. The Winchester's looked and saw a young man, who they could only assume was Tommy hanging from chains. As soon as Haley touched his cheek, Tommy gasped awake. 

"Check it out." Dean said.

"Flare guns!" Dakota said once she realized what her brother was holding.

"Those'll work." Said Sam. The group began walking out of the mine with Dean, Sam, and Dakota in front with flare guns when they heard the Wendigo roar.

"Looks like someone's home for supper." Dean said.

"We'll never out run it." Haley told them. Dean looked at Dakota and Sam.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.

"Most likely." Dakota said.

"Yeah. I think so." Said Sam.

"Alright listen to me. You three stay with Sam and Dakota, they're going to get you out of here." Dean told the three other siblings.

"What about you?" Haley asked. Dean winked at her and started walking away.

Sam walked ahead to check that the coast was clear then said, "Alright. Hurry!" They were almost to the exit when they heard growling.

Dakota looked at Haley and said, "Get out of here! Go! Go!" and Haley and her brothers left. Dakota and Sam pushed themselves into a corner and waited for the monster to come around the bend. They heard a strange sound behind them and looked at each other before turning around and finding themselves face-to-face with the Wendigo. Sam fired his flare gun, but the creature was too fast. Sam and Dakota rushed to catch up to Haley and the boys and the Wendigo chased after them. Dakota fired her flare, but the monster ducked her shot as well. They hit a dead end and Sam yelled for everyone to get behind him as the creature approached.

"Hey!" came a cry from behind the Wendigo. It turned around only to be shot by Dean Winchester. He looked up at the group as the monster laid dying and said, "Not bad, huh?"

..........

They made it back down the mountain, got medical help for Tommy, and told the police that a grizzly had attacked them. Dakota finished giving her statement and turned around to see Dean and Haley still flirting. She, Sam, and Ben walked over to them.

"Thanks guys." Haley said, then she threw her arm around Ben and the two walked towards the ambulance Tommy was being loaded into.

The Winchester's leaned against the trunk of the Impala and Dean said, "Man, I hate camping."

"Me too." Said Sam.

"Sam, Kota. You two know we're going to find Dad, right?" Dean asked Dakota just nodded her head.

"Yeah. I know." Sam said, not sounding the least bit like he believed that statement. "But in the meantime...I'm driving." And he looked at Dean and smiled. Dean looked at the ground like he was actually considering this then tossed Sam the keys.

"What!? Are you serious! He just has to ask and you let him drive, but I have to grovel just to ride shotgun!? What kind of world are we living in!?" Dakota screamed and Sam and Dean laughed at her. The boys climbed in the car, leaving an angry and muttering Dakota to get in the back and they drove off into the night.


	5. Dead in the Water Part 1

The Winchesters were sitting in a dinner in the middle of nowhere looking for their next case. Their waitress came over to them to ask if they needed anything else. Upon seeing the busty, blond woman in front of him Dean turned on the charm and smiled at her. Dakota rolled her eyes not even looking up from the paper she was reading.

"Just the check." Sam said before Dean could start throwing lines at the girl. Dakota smiled to herself. Dean dropped his head as the waitress walked away and then looked to his left at Sam.

"You know Sam, we are allowed to have fun every once and a while." Dean said and then pointed to the retreating waitress, "That's fun." Sam just glared at Dean.

"Well while you were busy undressing the waitress with your eyes, I, the responsible youngest sibling, found us a job. Check it out." Dakota said and threw the paper she had been reading at Dean. He and Sam looked at the page while Dakota explained, "Lake Manitco, Wisconsin. Last week this girl, Sophie Carlton 18, walks into the lake and doesn't walk out. The authorities searched the entire lake and got nothing. Sophie is the third lake victim this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had the funeral two days ago."

"Funeral?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. It's weird. They buried an empty coffin for closure, or whatever." Dakota said.

"Closure?" Sam questioned. "What closure? People don't just disappear, Kota. Other people just stop looking for them."

"Sammy that sounds suspiciously like you are trying to imply something." Dean said.

"The trail for Dad..." Sam started.

"Oh. Here we go." Dakota muttered to herself and grabbed the coffee in front of her.

"It's getting colder and colder every day." Sam continued.

"Exactly, so what are we supposed to do?" Dean asked with a bit of anger in his voice. Dakota worried she was going to have to break up yet another fight her brothers were having over their missing father.

"Something! Anything!" Sam said, starting to raise his voice,

"You know. I'm getting really sick of this attitude. You don't think Kota and I want to find Dad just as much as you do?"

"Yeah. I know you do..." Sam said then Dean cut him off.

"We're the ones who have been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies! We will find Dad, but until then will we kill everything bad between here and there! Okay?" Dean snapped.

"Guys! Knock it off!" Dakota hissed at them through her teeth. She had noticed their waitress approaching the bar they were sitting at and the siblings decided to stow their emotional baggage until they were in a less public area.

"So, Lake Manitoc? How far?" Sam asked.

..........

Sam, Dean, and Dakota pulled up that the latest victim, Sophie's, house and knock on the door. A young man answered for them.

"Will Carlton?" Dean asked. The boy confirmed his identity, so Dean continued, "I'm Agent Ford, this is Agent Fisher and Agent Hamill." Sam looked at his brother like he was crazy while Dakota and Dean just pulled their badges out.

"We're from the US Wildlife Service." Dakota said. Will led them down to the dock on the lake were an older man, who Dakota assumed could only be Will and Sophie's father, sat. They stopped a little way away from the dock and Will explained what happened.

"She was about 100 yards out. That's where she got dragged down." Will said.

"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake." Will said will a small, sad smile on his face at the thought of his sister. "She's as safe out there as in her own bathtub."

"So, no splashing, no signs of distress?" Sam asked.

"No. That's what I'm telling you." Will confirmed.

"Did you see any shadows in the water. Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?"

"No. But again, she was really far out there."

"Have you ever seen any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dakota asked.

"No never." Will responded. "Why? What do you think's out there?"

"We'll let you know as soon as we do." Dean said and he started to walk away.

"What about your father? Can we talk to him" Sam asked Will.

"Look. If you don't mind. He didn't see anything and he's kinda been through a lot." Will said looking back at the man on the dock.

"We understand." Sam said and he walked over to the Impala where Dean was.

"We're so sorry for your loss." Dakota said and she went to join her brothers.

..........

The next stop in the investigation was the local police office.

"I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" asked the sheriff.

"Are you so sure it's accidental? Will Carlton said he saw something grab his sister." Sam said.

"Like what? There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake. There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person. Unless it was the Lockness Monster." The officer told them. "Will Carlton was traumatized and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still we ran a sonar sweep and there was nothing there."

"It's weird though. That's the third missing body this year." Dean said.

"I know. Still, all this won't be a problem much longer." The sheriff said.

"What do you mean?" Dakota asked.

"Well, the dam of course."

"Of course. Yes. The dam. It's...sprung a leak."

"It's falling apart! And the Feds won't give us the grant to repair it so they've opened the spill way. In another six months there won't be much of a lake or town. But, as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that."

"Exactly." Dean assured him. A young woman walked into the office then.

"Sorry. Am I interrupting? I can come back later." She said.

"Agents, this is my daughter." The sheriff introduced. The Winchesters stood up to introduce themselves. Dean, naturally, went over to the pretty young woman first, put on a smile, and held out his hand.

"Hi. I'm Dean."

"Andria Bar. Hi."

"Hi." Dean repeated.

"They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake." Andria's father said. A little boy peeked out from behind Andria's skirt.

"Oh hey. What's your name?" Dean asked. The boy looked at the ground and walked away. Andria followed the boy out the door leaving three very confused Winchesters in his wake.

"His name is Lucas." The sheriff said.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked.

"My grandson has been through a lot. We all have. If there's anything else I can do for you, let me know." The sheriff said showing them the door.

"Well now that you mentioned it, could you point us to a reasonably priced motel?" Dakota asked.

"Lake Front Motel. Go around the corner, it's two blocks up." Andria said, sweetly.

"Would you mind showing us?" Dean asked stepping into the conversation.

"You want me to walk you two blocks?" She said with a laugh.

"Not if it's any trouble."

"I'm heading that way anyways." She turned to her dad. "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three."

The siblings and Andria began walking to the motel.

"So, cute kid." Dean complimented.

"Thanks." Andria responded.

"Kid are the best, huh?" Dean asked. Dakota and Sam snorted at their brother's attempt to flirt. They reached the motel.

"There it is, two blocks, like I told you. Must be hard with your sense of direction. Never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line." Andria told Dean then walked away.

"She is my new favorite person ever!" Kota declared.

"Kids are the best? You don't even like kids!" Sam teased.

"I love kids!" Dean argued.

"Name three children that you even know."

"Besides you and Dakota?" Dean asked and held out his fingers to count. Sam rolled his eyes and walked away.

"We're 22!" Dakota sassed Dean. They checked into the motel and Sam set up his laptop to do some research.

"So, there's the three drowning victims." Sam said.

"And before that?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Six more spread out over the past 35 years. Those bodies were never recovered either." Sam continued.

"So if something is out there it's picking up its pace." Dakota commented.

"So we have some kinda lake monster?" Dean asked

"Yes. We're hunting Nessie!" Dakota mocked.

"This whole 'Lake monster' thing bugs me." Said Sam.

"Why?" Asked Dean.

"Because with most there are literally hundreds of eye witness accounts, but here there's nothing." Sam said pulling up articles on other lake monsters. "Whatever's out there, no one is living to talk about it."

"Wait." Dean said pointing to one of the victim's names. "Christopher Bar. Where have I heard that name before?"

"Christopher Bar, the May victim. Oh, he was Andria's husband and Lucas' father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming, the kid was on a floating dock when Chris drowned. It was hours before the kid got rescued. Maybe we have an eyewitness after all" Sam read from the article. Dakota looked over at Dean and saw a look on his face she couldn't quite place, but there was obvious sadness there.

"No wonder that kid was so freaked out." Dean said. "Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over." Suddenly Kota understood the look she had seen Dean wearing.

..........

Later in the afternoon, they went over to the park they had overheard Andria say she was going to take Lucas to.

"Mind if we join you?" Sam asked her.

"I'm here with my son." She said and gestured to a bench Lucas was coloring on.

"Mind if I go say hi?" Dean asked her and walked over to Lucas without waiting for an answer.

"Will you two tell your friend that this isn't going to work on me?" Andria asked as Sam and Dakota sat down.

'I don't think that's what this is about." Dakota said. "I just think that he can relate and wants to help."

"Lucas hasn't said a word. Not even to me. Not since his Dad's accident" Andria said as Dean walked back over to join his siblings and Andria.

"We heard. We are so sorry." Dakota said in a sincere voice.

"What are the doctors saying?" Sam asked.

"Oh, that it's a kind of post-traumatic stress." She said with tears in her eyes.

"That can't be easy for either of you." Sam commented.

"We moved in with my Dad and he helps out a lot. When I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw..." She trailed off.

"Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with." Dean told her.

"Ya know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there drawing his pictures. Hey sweetie!" She said as Lucas approached. Without looking at him Lucas handed Dean a picture.

"Thanks Lucas." Dean said and the little boy walked away.

..........

Sam walked into the motel room where Dean and Dakota where watching TV and said, "So I think we can rule out Nessie."

"Aww." Dakota said in mock sorrow, "I wanted to be the hunter to finally kill her."

"Why can rule her out?" Dean asked.

"I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead." Sam said.

"He drowned?" Dakota asked.

"Yep. In the sink." Sam said.

"What the Hell? So you're right. We aren't dealing with a creature; this is something else." Dean said.

"So water wraith? Some kinda demon?" Kota asked.

"Well it's something that controls water...Water that comes from the same source" Dean said.

"The lake. Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It will be dry in a few months. So whatever it wants, it's running out of time" Sam said.

"Yeah and if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone." Dean said.

"This is going to happen again. And soon!" Dakota said.

"And we know one other thing. This has got something to do with Bill Carlton."

"Yeah! It killed both his kids!" Dean exclaimed.

"And I've been asking around town. Chris Bar, Lucas' father, Bill Carlton's godson." Sam explained. They decided to go talk to Bill Carlton.

..........

They found the old man sitting on the dock, right where they had left him.

"Mr. Carlton? We'd like to ask you a few questions. If that's okay" Sam said.

"We're from the department..." Dakota started, but Mr. Carlton cut her off midsentence.

"I don't care who you're with." He said in a vacant voice.

"Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you?" Sam said. When he remained silent Sam continued, "Sophie's drowning and Will's death, we think there might be a connection."

"My children are gone! It's worse than dying." Bill said. After a moment of silence, he whispered, "Go away." So they left. As they were heading back to the Impala, Sam started to question his brother and sister.

"So what do you think?" He asked.

"I think the poor guy's been through Hell. I also think he's not telling us something." Dean replied.

"So now what?" Dakota asked. Dean didn't answer. Instead he stared at the Carlton house.

"What is it?" Sam asked. Dean reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out the picture Lucas had drawn him.

"Looks like Bill isn't the only one who knows something." Dean commented.


	6. Dead in the Water Part 2

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea." Andrea said.

"Please, we just need to talk to him. Just for a few minutes." Dakota pleaded.

"He won't say anything. What good's it gonna do?" Andrea asked.

"Andrea. We think more people might get hurt. We think something is happening out there." Sam told her.

"My husband and the others, they just drowned. That's all!" Andrea said.

"If that's what you really believe, then we'll go. But if you think there is even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son." Dean said. Andrea hesitated for a moment then nodded and showed the Winchesters to Lucas' room. When they reached his room they found Lucas coloring. Andrea, Sam, and Dakota waited at the doorway while Dean went into the room and crouched down to talk to Lucas.

"Hey Lucas. Remember me? You know, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing...but the thing is, I need your help again." Dean said to the small boy. Dakota watched with curiosity in her green eyes as Dean pulled the drawing of the Carlton house Lucas had drawn, "How did you now to draw this? Did you know that something bad was going to happen? Maybe you could nod 'yes' or 'no' for me? You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age I saw something real bad happen to my mom and I was scared too." Dean told Lucas. Dakota listened intensely to what Dean was saying, desperate to learn anything about the mother she had never known. "I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom, I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day and I do my best to be brave. And maybe your dad wants you to be brave too." Dean finished. Dakota had tears forming in her eyes and Sam had a look of such sadness etched into his face.

Lucas stopped drawing when Dean stopped talking and looked up at his mother, then he reached into the pile of pictures he had drawn and handed one to Dean. Dakota couldn't see what it was from her spot at the entrance to the room, but assumed it was a valuable clue since Dean studied it so intensely.

"Thanks, Lucas." Dean said and the Winchesters left the house to find what they were hunting.

............

Sam was sitting shotgun and Dakota in the backseat looking over his shoulder at the picture Lucas had given Dean.

"Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died." Dean explained.

"There are cases where going through a traumatic experience could make some people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic abilities..." Sam explained.

"Well, what if whatever's out there, Lucas is tapping into it?" Dean asked in a concerned voice.

"I don't know." Dakota said.

"It's only a matter of time before someone else drowns, so if you two have a better lead, people feel free to share it!" Dean snapped.

"Alright, well it looks like we've got another house to find." Sam said referring to Lucas' drawing.

"Oh good. This should be easy." Dakota said in a sarcastic voice.

"There must be a thousand yellow two-stories in the county alone!" Dean agreed.

"See this church, I bet there are less than a thousand of those around here." Sam pointed out.

"Oooh! College boy! Thinks he's so smart!" Dean said, teasing Sam. Sam laughed.

Dakota sat quietly in the backseat debating whether or not to say what was on her mind, then decided to give it a shot, "Hey Dean. What you said about Mom, you've never told me that before."

"It's not a big deal." Dean said and looked over to see Dakota and Sam staring at him, "Oh God. We're not going to have to hug or anything, are we?" The twins both laughed at that. Eventually they found a church that looked strikingly similar to the one in Lucas' picture and sure enough, just across the street was a yellow two-story. They went over and were greeted by an elderly old woman.

"We're sorry to bother you ma'am, but does a little boy live here by chance? He might wear a blue baseball cap and have a red bicycle?" Dean said. The woman looked shocked that he would ask that question.

"No sir, not for a very long time." She responded. "Peter's been dead for 35 years now. The police never...I never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared! Losing him, ya know...it's...it's worse than dying." Dakota noticed that she had said the same words that Bill Carlton had told them last time they went to speak to him.

"Did he disappear from here? From this house?" Dean asked.

"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school! And he never showed up." The woman said in a trembling voice as though she was about to cry. Dakota noticed a photo of two boys and went to pick it up on the back she saw their names.

"Peter Sweeny and Billy Carlton. 1970." She read.

..........

The Winchesters left the woman's house and got into the Impala to go talk to Mr. Carlton.

"Okay. So this little boy Peter Sweeny goes missing and it's somehow all connected to Bill Carlton." Sam said summing up their case.

"Bill sure seems to be hiding something." Dean said.

"And all the people he loves are getting punished." Sam continued.

"So, we think Bill did something to Peter?" Dakota asked.

"What if Bill killed Peter!" Sam said

"Then Peter's spirit would be furious." Dean pointed out. They pulled up to the house and began looking around for Mr. Carlton, finally Dean noticed the man going on to the lake on a motorboat. They raced down to the dock, yelling for the man to come back. Without any warning the motorboat shot off the water and flipped over causing the siblings to jump. They met up with the sheriff and walked into his office with him, where they saw Andrea and Lucas sitting inside.

"Hey! I wasn't expecting to see you three here." Andrea said.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" Her father asked.

"I brought you dinner."

"I'm really sorry, but I don't have the time."

"I heard about Bill Carlton. Is it true? Is something going on up at the lake?"

"Right now we don't know what's going on, but I think it would be best if you and Lucas went home." The sheriff said. At that statement, Dakota and Dean spared a look at the little boy who seemed to be more distressed than usual.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Dakota asked the boy sweetly. Lucas jumped out of his chair and grabbed onto Dean's hand and tried to pull Dean with him. His mother and grandfather were attempting to pull him off of Dean, but he held on with an iron grip. Dean managed to sooth the boy into letting him go and going with his mother. Dean stood there looking at the doors Andrea and Lucas had walked through while Sam and Dakota accompanied the sheriff into his office to tell him what they had seen on the lake.

"So, just to be clear, you saw something attack Bill's boat sending Bill, who is an excellent swimmer by the way, into the lake and you never see him again?" The sheriff asked.

"Well, yeah. Pretty much." Dakota said.

"And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar swept that entire lake and what you're describing is impossible and you're not really Wildlife Service? Yeah, that's right. I checked and the department's never heard of you three." He said

"We can explain that!" Dean started.

"Enough! Please. The only reason you're breathing free air is because one of Bill's neighbors saw Bill driving his boat out, just before you did. So we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's death. Or we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get in your car, put this town in your rear view mirror, and never come back" He finished angrily.

"Door number two sounds good." Sam said.

"I agree, I'm all for door number two." Dakota agreed.

..........

They had left town and were sitting at an intersection when Dean simply stopped driving. Dakota looked at him as if he had lost his mind as he turned to head back to town.

"Um...the interstate's the other way." Sam pointed out.

"I know." Dean said and kept driving right back to the town. Sam turned in his seat and looked at Dakota who just shrugged.

"Dean I think this job is over!" Sam said.

"Well I don't think so." Dean replied.

"If Bill Carlton murdered Peter Sweeny and Peter's spirit got it's revenge, case closed! Peter's spirit should be at rest!" Sam pointed out.

"Alright, but what if it's not done? What if we take off and more people get hurt?" Dean asked.

"Why would you think that?" Sam questioned.

"Because Lucas was really scared." Dean stated.

"That's what this is about?" Dakota asked.

"I just don't want to leave this town until I know that kid's okay." Dean said.

"Who are you and what have done with our brother?" Sam teased.

"Shut up!" Dean said and Dakota let out a small giggle in the backseat.

They reached Andrea house and before Dean was even able to knock Lucas threw the door open, panting as though he had run the whole way, then he dragged Dean with him, Sam and Dakota hot on their heels, to the bathroom door where water was pouring out from underneath. Dean kicked the door down and held Lucas back while Sam and Dakota tried to pull Andrea out of the tub. They finally managed to get her out and all three lay panting on the bathroom floor.

Once everyone had calmed down Sam, Dakota, and Andrea went and sat at the kitchen table to try to figure things out.

"It doesn't make any sense. I'm going crazy!" Andrea said and she started to cry. Dakota went and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, trying to calm her.

"No, you're not." Dakota said.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Sam asked.

"I heard...I thought I heard...there was this voice...it said...it said 'come play with me'. What's happening?" Andrea asked sniffling. Dakota reached over and handed her a napkin. Dean walked into the kitchen then holding an open photo album.

"Do you recognize the kids in this photo?" he asked.

"No, well, except my dad. He must have been about 12 in these pictures." Andrea answered. Dean looked at Dakota and Sam.

"Chris Bar's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton; it was to sheriff." Dean said.

"Bill Carlton _and_ the sheriff?" Dakota asked in shocked.

"They were both involved with Peter?" Sam questioned.

"Lucas what are you doing?" Dean asked and all the adults in the room turned their heads to where Dean had noticed the boy standing and staring out the window. He simply opened the kitchen door which led outside and walked out. The adults followed him as he walked to a wooded area then stopped and looked up at Dean.

"You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there." Dean said to Andrea. As soon as they left Sam went back to the car and grabbed the shovel and they began to dig until they heard the sound of metal hitting metal. They brushed the rest of the dirt off with their hands and found Peter's bike, buried and rusted in the ground. A gun clicked behind them and they turned around to find the sheriff.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Put the gun down, Jake." Sam said and he put the bike down and held up his hands. Dean took a slight step in front of Dakota.

"How did you know that was there?" Jake asked them.

"What happened? You and Bill kill Peter? Drown him in the lake and then bury his bike?" Dean asked.

"You can't bury the truth Jake. Nothing stays buried." Dakota told him.

"I don't know what the Hell you're talking about." Jake said.

"You and Bill killed Peter Sweeny 35 years ago, that's what the Hell we're talking about." Dean said. Andrea ran on to the scene out of nowhere. "And now you've got one seriously pissed off spirit."

"It's going to take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love." Sam promised him.

"It's going to drown them and it's going to drag their bodies, God knows where, so you can feel the pain Peter's mom felt. And then it's going to take you. And it's not going to stop until it does" Dakota threatened.

"And how do you know all this?" Jake asked.

"Because that's what it did to Bill Carlton." Sam said.

"Listen to you! All three of you! You're insane!" Jake said.

"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we are going to stop this spirit we need to find the bones and salt and burn them." Dean told Jake. "Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere! Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake!"

"Dad, is any of this true?" Andrea asked.

"No. Don't listen to them. There liars and their dangerous." Jake said.

"Something tried to drown me! Chris died on that lake! Tell me you didn't kill anyone." Andrea said.

"Billy and I were at the lake, Peter was the smallest one, we always bullied him, but this time it got rough. We were holding his head under the water, we didn't mean to, but we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go and it sank. Andrea, we were kids, we made a mistake, but to say I had anything to do with these drownings and with Chris! It's not rational!" Jake said.

"Alright, listen to me. We need to get you away from here. As far from this lake as we can, right now!" Dean said.

"Lucas!" Jake screamed and everyone's head shot around to see Lucas one the dock. They took off sprinting towards the boy. Then he disappeared into the water and as soon as the Winchesters reached the edge of the dock the dived in to find Lucas. Andrea tried to follow but Sam resurfaced and told to stay put. Dakota surfaced to catch her breath and saw Jake walking into the water, but didn't give it much thought before diving back under to search for Lucas.

All three resurfaced and Dean yelled for Jake to stop, but before they could do anything Peter's spirit pulled Jake under. Sam and Dakota came back up just before Dean did, who was carrying a lifeless looking Lucas.

..........

Sam, Dean, and Dakota were checking out of the motel and packing the car up. Dean had been eerily quiet since the lake.

"Look, we're not going to save everyone." Sam said.

"I know." Dean said.

"Dean! Sam! Kota!" Andrea cried out from across the street as she and Lucas came over to wish the siblings goodbye. "We made you guys lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself."

"I've said it once and I'll say it again. Andrea, you are my favorite person, ever." Dakota said with a smile.

"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas asked and everyone smiled to hear him finally talking.

"Common Lucas, let's load this in the car." Dean said and he, Lucas and Dakota went over to the Impala. Dean put the food in the car and sat down so he could be eye level with Lucas. "Okay if you're going to be talking now this is a very important phrase so I want you to repeat it back to me one more time." Dean said.

"Zeppelin rules!" Lucas said.

"Up top." Dean said holding out his hand for a hi-five.

"Yes they do! Pound it!" Dakota said giving the boy a fist bump.

"Take care of your mom." Dean told him. Andrea walked over to Dean and kissed him when they broke apart Lucas, Sam, and Dakota where staring at them.

"Sam, Kota common. Let's haul ass." He said getting in the car. Sam and Dakota climbed into the Impala and all three waved at Andrea and Lucas before driving off to find their next case. 


	7. Phantom Traveler Part 1

Dakota woke up to the front door of their motel room slamming close. She peaked over the covers of the bed her and Sam had been sharing for the night and saw none other than her twin standing at the foot of Dean’s bed with coffee.

           “Morning guys!” Sam said cheerfully. Kota groaned and covered herself with the sheets.

           “What time is it?” Complained Dean.

           “It’s about 5:45.” Sam said.

           “In the morning!?” Dakota screamed.

           “Where does the day go? Did you get any sleep last night?” Dean asked Sam.

           “Yea. I grabbed a couple hours.” Sam answered.

           “Liar! I woke up at three and you were watching infomercials!” Kota mumbled under the sheets.

           “What can I say? It’s great TV.” Sam said.

           “When’s the last time you got a good night’s sleep?” Dean asked.

           “I don’t know. A little while. It’s not a big deal.” Sam said trying to brush it off.

           “Yes it is.” Dean said.

           “You know what is a big deal? The fact it’s 5:45 IN THE MORING AND I DON’T HAVE COFFEE!!” Dakota yelled as she emerged for the blankets. Sam rolled his eyes and handed her the coffee he got her while still talking to Dean.

           “Look. I appreciate your concern…” Sam started.

           “Oh, I’m not concerned about you. It’s your and Kota’s job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp.” Dean said jokingly.

           In all seriousness, are you still having nightmares about Jess?” Dean asked.

Sam sighed and went to sit next to Dakota on the bed, handed Dean his coffee and said, “Yeah. But it’s not just here, it’s everything. This job, it just gets to you.” Kota leaned her head lovingly on Sam’s arm, not being tall enough to reach his shoulder.

           “Well you can’t let it. You can’t bring it home with you.” Dean said.

           “So all this it never keeps you up at night?” Sam asked Dean who shook his head.

           “Never? You’re never afraid” Dakota said raising an eyebrow at her big brother.

           “No. Not really.” Dean replied. Sam leaned over to Dean’s bed and pulled a knife out from under his pillow and held it up for Dean to see. Dean grabbed the knife back.

           “That’s not fear. That’s precaution. Besides, Kota sleeps with a knife under her pillow, too.”

           “Yeah, but I’m not the one who’s claiming their never scared. And I’m too tired to argue.” She pointed out.  Dean’s phone started ringing and they all stared at it in shock. No one ever called them.  Dean answered and had a quick conversation with the person on the other end, he hung up, explained what was going on, and they started getting ready to leave.

While Dean went to take a shower, Kota started getting ready for the day. She was finishing up and was putting her long, dark blond hair into a ponytail when she heard Sam yelled, “WHAT IS THAT BEHIND YOUR RIGHT EAR!?”. She reached up to touch her ear then realized what he was talking about.

           “Oh! It’s a music note tattoo. Do you like it?” Kota asked.

           “NO! When did this happen!? Dad and Dean let you do this to yourself!?” Sam yelled and Dakota frowned.

           “I did it about a year ago and no one ‘let’ me do anything! I’m 22 and if I want to get a tattoo I damn well will!” She said angrily and walked out the front door slamming it behind her. Just then Dean came out of the bathroom, ready to go, and said “What did I miss?”

……….

The boys and a still fairly pissed off Dakota went to meet Jerry Panowski, a man Dakota, Dean, and their dad had help a few years ago.

           “Thanks for making the trip so quick. I should be doing you a favor not the other way around.” Jerry said then looked at Sam and said “Your siblings and your dad really helped me out.”

           “I heard. A poltergeist, right?” Sam asked

           “Damn right it was a poltergeist. It almost tore our house apart.” Jerry said then he turned to Dakota and Dean, “Tell you what, if it wasn’t for you two and your dad, I probably would be dead right now. Sam, your dad said you were off at college, is that right?”

           “Yeah. I’m taking some time off.”

           “Ya know he was real proud of you. I could tell. He talked about you all the time.”

           “He did?”

           “You bet he did.” Jerry said before turning to Dakota, “Oh, hey. I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn’t. How is he anyways?”

           “Yea, he’s wrapped up in a job right now.” Kota said.

           “Well, we’re missing the old man, but we get Sam. Even trade.” Jerry said.

           “Not by a long shot.” Sam said. Jerry brought them into his office and played a recording for them.

           “Normally I wouldn’t have this. It’s the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485. It was one of ours.” Jerry informed them. They listened to the message, but could barely make anything out over the static until the end when they heard a growl and roar. “Took off from here, crashed about two hundred miles south. Now they’re saying mechanical failure. Over 100 people onboard and only seven got out alive. One of them was the piolet, his name is Chuck lambert, he’s a good friend of mine. Chuck is…pretty broken up about it, like it was his fault.”

           “You don’t think it was.” Sam stated rather than asked.

           “No. I don’t.” Jerry said.

           “Jerry, we’re going to need passenger manifests, a list of the survivors…” Sam said.

           “And is there any possible way we could see the wreckage?” Dean asked.

           “The other stuff, no problem, but the wreckage…the NTSB has that locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I’ve got that kind of clearance.” Jerry told them.

           “So what you’re saying is, there’s a chance.” Dakota said with a smile.

……….

Sam and Kota were leaning against the Impala while Dean ran into a copy shop to make them all a new set of fake IDs.

When Dean finally came out Sam said, “Dude, you were in there forever!”

           “You can’t rush perfection.” Dean said handing out the IDs.

           “Homeland Security?” Dakota asked inspecting her card.

           “I don’t know man. That’s pretty illegal, even for us.” Sam commented.

           “Yeah. Well. It’s something new. Ya know, people haven’t seen it a thousand times.” Dean said and the Winchesters climbed into the Impala. “Alright so whatta ya got?”

           Dakota pulled out her notes and some articles, “Well, there’s definitely EVP on the voice recorder.”

           “Yeah. Listen.” Sam said playing the recording on his laptop.

           “No survivors?” Deana asked repeating what the creepy voice had said in the recording. “What’s that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors.”

           “Ya got us.” Said Dakota.

           “So what are we thinking? Haunted flight?” Dean asked.

           “There is a long history of death and omens on flights and ships. Phantom travelers. Or, remember flight 401?” Sam asked.

           “Yeah. The flight crashed and they salvaged some parts put them in other planes and the spirits of the piolet and co-piolet haunted those flights.” Dean recalled.

           “Maybe this is the same thing.’ Dakota suggested.

           “So, survivors. Which one do you want to talk to first?” Dean asked looking at the list they had been given.

           “Third on the list, Max Jaffery.” Sam said.

           “Why him?” Dean asked.

           “Well one, because he’s from around here. And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did.” Dakota said.

           “Why do you say that?” Dean questioned.

           “Because I spoke to his mother and she said we could find him at the Riverfront Psychiatric Hospital.” Dakota said.

……….

           “I don’t understand. I already spoke to Homeland Security.” Max said.

           “Well, some new information has come up, so would you mind answering a few questions?” Dakota asked him in the sweet voice she reserved for when she really wanted something, like a person to talk or for Dean to let her drive. They sat down at a square table, Kota sitting across from Max and Sam and Dean sitting across from each other.

           “Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything unusual?” Sam asked him.

           “Like what?” Max asked.

           “Strange lights, weird noises, maybe, voices.” Dean listed.

           “No. Nothing.” Max said.

           “Hmm. Mr. Jaffery, you checked yourself in here, right? May I ask why?” Dakota asked him.

           “I was a little stressed. I survived a plane crash!” Max said.

           “And that’s what terrified you. I mean, that’s what you were afraid of?” Dean asked.

           “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Max said.

           “See, I think you did see something up there. We need to know what.” Dean continued.

           “No. No. I was delusional. Seeing things” Max insisted.

           “Oh.” Said Dean, then he turned to Sam and Dakota and said, “He was seeing things.”

           “It’s okay.” Dakota said reassuringly.

           “Just tell us what you _thought_ you saw. Please” Sam said. Max hesitated for a moment before answering.

“There was this man, and he had these eyes…these black eyes…um…and I saw him… I _thought_ I saw…he opened the emergency exit. But that’s impossible right? I mean, I looked it up, there’s something like two tons of pressure in on that door.” Max explained.

           “This man, did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It would look something like a mirage.” Sam questioned Max.

           “What? Are you nuts?” Max asked. Dakota gave a small nod, still slightly pissed about the tattoo incident and thinking Sam must be crazy if he was angry about some tiny little tattoo behind her ear. Sam kicked her shin for nodding and she shot him a quick glare. “He was a passenger. He was sitting right in front of me.”

           “Thank you for your time.” Dakota said with a smile and they stood to go look for the new passenger.

……….

           “So this is it. George Phelps, seat 20C.” Sam said as they pulled in front of a house in town. Dakota stared at the nice house with the beautiful lawn and white fence and thought it was hardly the home of something evil.

           “Man, I don’t care how strong you are. Even hopped up on PCP or something, no way you can open an emergency door during a flight.” Dean said.

           “Not if your human. But maybe this guy George wasn’t human.” Dakota pointed out.

           “Some kinda creature in human form.” Sam said.

           “Does that look like a creature’s lair to you?” Dean said. Dakota smirked, sometimes it freaked her out how much her and her brother could be in sync about stuff like this. They went to talk to George’s widow under the pretense of Homeland Security.

           “This is your late husband?” Sam asked picking up a photo on the side table.

           “Yes, that was my George.” Ms. Phelps confirmed.

           “And you said he was a dentist?” Dean double checked.

           “He was heading to a convention in Denver.” Said Ms. Phelps. “Did you know he was terrified to fly? For him to go like that…” she trailed off.

           “How long were you two married?” Dakota asked her.

“Thirteen years.” Ms. Phelps said. Dakota smiled, she wondered what it would be like to be with someone for longer than two weeks. It sounded wonderful.

           “In all that time, did you ever notice anything strange about George?” Sam asked.

           “Well, he had acid reflex if that’s what you mean.” Ms. Phelps said.

           “Thank you for your time. We are so sorry for your loss. We’ll show ourselves out.” Dakota said standing and walking to the door, followed by her brothers.

           Once they were outside Sam started discussing their case, “I mean, it goes without saying. It just doesn’t make sense!”

           “Yeah, a middle aged dentist with an ulcer doesn’t exactly scream ‘evil’ to me.” Dakota said.

           “Ya know what we need to do is get inside that NTSB warehouse, check out the wreckage.” Dean said.

           “Okay, but if we are going to go that route, we better look the part.” Sam pointed out.

……….

Dakota was in a shop, across the street from where her brothers were getting suits, looking for a professional outfit. She was in the dressing room trying on houndstooth pixie cut pants, a white, curve hugging, button-up that stopped at the elbows and a pair of black kitten heels. She decided this outfit looked good enough, but realized her normal eyeliner and mascara combo didn’t really look the part. She went to check out the clothes she had and grabbed some lip-gloss, foundation, and eyeshadow on the way. After making her purchase (with a fake credit card Dean had given her) she ducked into the bathroom to put everything on. Once she had the clothes and makeup on she did her hair in a twist, purposely leaving her tattoo uncovered, and went to meet her brothers who, dressed in full suits and ties, were waiting by the car.

           “Damn Dakota! You look like a girl!” Dean said.

Dakota glared at him then scoffed and said, “Nice monkey suit.”

           “Alright, shut up and get in the car!” Dean said and the three climbed into the Impala and drove to the warehouse.

……….

They got to the warehouse and simply had to hold up their fake badges and were immediately let in. The room they went into was giant with tones of pieces of the plane scattered around.

           “What are those?” Sam asked refereeing to the objects Dean and Dakota had just pulled out.

           “EMF meter.” Dakota said.

           “It reads elector magnetic frequencies.” Dean explained.

           “Yeah, I know what an EMF meter is, but why do those look like busted up Walkmans?” Sam asked.

           “Cause that’s what I made them out of. Their homemade.” Dean said with a big smile on his face.

           “In case you can’t tell, Dean is extremely proud of his invention.” Dakota said and Sam nodded. Dakota and Dean split up and took separate sides of the room scanning for any EMF. Sam followed Dean, which Dakota was glad of since he had been glaring at her right ear in the car. She couldn’t wait for this case to be over so she could punch Sam in the jaw for being such a dick about the whole tattoo thing.

           “Check out the emergency door handle.” Dean said, calling his siblings over. There was a strange black substance on the door.

           “What is that?’ Dakota asked and Dean scrapped some off with his fingers.

           “One way to find out.” Sam said and he pulled a test tube and knife out of his jacket pocket to get a sample. As soon as they had the sample, they heard footsteps coming down the hallway and they went out the back door of the building. The Winchesters were walking calmly and quietly to the car trying to appear as though they belonged when a loud alarm went off and they took off running. Dean threw his jacket on top of the barbed wire fence so they could climb over without cutting their hands and Dakota kicked her heels off and held on to them so she could run.

           “Looks like these monkey suits do come in handy. What do you have to say now, baby girl?” Dean teased Dakota who glared at him as they continued to the car and safely made their getaway.

……….

The Winchesters were with Jerry in a lab at his office building, looking over the samples Sam had collected.

           “This stuff is covered in sulfur.” Jerry informed them.          

           “Are you sure?” Dakota asked.

           “See for yourselves.” Jerry said and he gestured to the microscope they were using. “If you will excuse me, I have an idiot to fire.” He said and left the room. Dean stood and walked over to the sample and looked at it.

           “Ya know, there’s not too many things that leave behind a sulfuric residue.” Dean said.

           “Demonic possession.” Sam said.

           “That would explain how our dentist opened the emergency door.” Dakota pointed out.

           “If the guy was possessed, it’s possible.” Sam said

           “Ya, but this goes way beyond floating above the bed and vomiting pea soup. It’s one thing to possess a person, but to use them to take down an entire airplane?” Dean said.

           “Have you guys ever heard of something like this before?” Sam asked. Dakota and Dean shook their heads. 


	8. Phantom Traveler part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by "Fly by Night" by Rush.

The walls of the motel room were covered in various articles on things that could possess a person or that would want to bring down an airplane. Sam was sitting at the table on his laptop while Dean and Dakota were sitting on the beds going through books.

           “So, every religion in the world has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right?” Sam asked.

           “Yeah, but last time I checked none of them had anything that wanted to bring planes down.” Dakota said.

           “Well, that’s not exactly true. According to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters both natural and manmade. One causes earthquakes, another causes disease…” Sam listed.

           “And this one causes plane crashes? So what we have a demon that’s evolved with the times and found a way to hike up the body count?” Dean asked.

           “Yeah. And who knows how many planes it’s brought down before this one.” Sam said. Dean scoffed and scratched the back of his head walking away from Kota and Sam who were still gathered around the laptop.

           “What?” Dakota asked.

           “I don’t know. This isn’t our normal gig. I mean, demons don’t want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big. And I wish Dad were here.” Dean confessed his concerns.

           “Yeah. Me too.” Dakota said in a whisper. Dean’s phone started ringing then and Dean answered and had a brief conversation with Jerry before hanging up.

           “Another crash?” Sam asked.

           “Yeah. We gotta go.” Dean said grabbing his bag.

           “Where too.” Sam asked.

           “Nazareth.” Dean said.

           “Well, if that’s not irony, I don’t know what is.” Dakota said before standing from the table and following Dean out the door.

……….

Once again the Winchesters found themselves looking over samples from the crash with Jerry.

           “Sulfur?” Dean asked and Jerry nodded. “That’s great.” Dean said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, “So that’s two crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him.”

“With all due respect to Chuck, if that’s the case, that would be the good news.” Sam said.

           “Dare I ask what the bad news is?” Dakota questioned.

           “Chuck’s flight went down exactly 40 minutes into it’s flight and get this, so did flight 2485. 40 minutes.” Sam repeated.

           “What does that mean?” Jerry asked.

           “It’s biblical numerology.” Dakota explained.

           “Ya know, like Noah’s Arch. It rained for 40 days. The number means death.” Dean said.

           “I went back and looked and there have been six plane crashed over the last decade that went down 40 minutes in.” Sam said.

           “Any survivors?” Dean asked.

           “None.” Sam said.

           “Well, until flight 2485.” Dakota pointed out.

           “The EVP on the cockpit voice recorder said ‘no survivors’.” Sam said.

           “It’s going after all the survivors. It’s trying to finish the job.” Dean realized.

……….

Dakota and Sam had split up the list of survivors and were calling them from the Impala while Dean drove. Dakota hung up the phone.

           “Okay that takes care of Blain Anderson. He has no plans to fly anytime soon.” Kota said and Sam crossed the name off of the list.

           “So our only wildcard is the flight attendant, Amada Walker.” Dean said.

           “Right. Her sister Karen says her flight leaves Indianapolis at 8 pm. It’s her first night back on the job.”

           “Just our luck.” Dean said.

           “Dean. That’s a five hour drive, man. Even with you behind the wheel.” Sam said

           “Kota, why don’t you call her again.” Dean said.

           “I already left her three messages. She must have turned her phone off.” Dakota said

           “We aren’t going to make it.” Sam said.

           “Oh, we’ll make it!” Dean said and he hit the gas pedal.

……….

Sam, Dean, and Dakota ran into the airport and over to the screens showing flight times searching for Amanda’s plane.

           “There! They’re boarding in 30 minutes.” Sam said.

           “Okay. We’ve still got some cards to play, but we need a phone.” Dean said.

Dean picked up the courtesy phone and called Gate 13, flight 242 looking for Amada. When she answered he first pretended to be a doctor and when that failed he pretended to be her ex-boyfriends friend and tried to convince her to stay and work on the relationship. By the look on Dean’s face when he hung up, Dakota guessed it didn’t work.

           “Damnit! I was so close!” Dean said.

           “Alright. Time for plan B. We’re getting on that plane.” Sam said.

           “Woah, woah, woah. Just wait a second.” Dean said.

           “Dean, that plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board and if we’re right, it’s going to crash!” Sam whispered harshly. “Look, I’ll go get the tickets and you two go get whatever can go through security from the trunk and met back here in five minutes.”

           “Whatever we can get through security. Okay. So…salt.” Dakota said. Sam was about to retort when he noticed the look on Dean’s face.

           “Are you okay?” Sam asked him.

           “No! Not really!” Dean said.

           “What? What’s wrong?” Sam asked in a concerned yet annoyed voice.

           “Oh, he’s fine. He’s just terrified of flying.” Dakota said.

           “It’s never really been an issue till now!” Dean exclaimed.

           “You’re joking right?” Sam asked

           “Does it look like I’m joking!? Why do you think I drive everywhere?” Dean snapped.

           “Okay. Bug and I can go and do this one on our own.” Sam said gesturing to Dakota who nodded.

           “What!? Are you two nuts? You said it yourself the plane’s going to crash!” Dean asked. Dakota could tell Dean was feeling anxious about this job, but it was strange. It was more than just the usual strong connection she had with her brothers, it was like she could actually _feel_ his anxiety.

           “Look, Dean.” Sam said bring Dakota out of her thoughts and back to the conversation. “We can all do this together or Kota and I can do it by ourselves. I’m not seeing a third option here.”

           “Common! Really? Man.” Dean said as he came to the realization he would have to get on the plane.

……….

The Winchesters were sitting on the plane with Dean in the aisle, Sam at the window, and Dakota squished between the two giants. Dean was fidgeting in his seat and flipping through the safety guide.

           “Just try to relax.” Dakota said.

           “Just try to shut up.” Dean snapped back at her and Sam laughed. The plane began to take off and the twins tried to hide their giggles at their big brother’s terrified face.

           “Dude. Are you humming Metallic?” Sam asked Dean.

           “It calms me down.” Dean said.

           “How are you holding up, Kota? I thought you were afraid of heights?” Sam asked his sister.

           “Oh. I am. But the odds of getting in a car crash are far higher than being in a plane crash and we drive all the time without any problems. Well, except that one time in Texas.” Dakota explained to her brother.

           “What happened in Texas?” Sam asked, assuming it must have been a hunt they went on while he was at Stanford.

           “Shh!! We don’t talk about Texas!” Dean said then went back to his humming while Dakota rolled her eyes. Sam looked down at Dakota with a confused look on his face.

           “He’s right. We don’t talk about it.” Kota confirmed. Sam just shook his head and looked at Dean.

           “Look man, I get that you’re nervous, but you’ve got to keep it together. I mean, we’ve got 32 minutes and counting to find this thing and perform a full on exorcism.” Sam said.

           “On a crowded plane, that’s going to be easy.” Dean said sarcastically.

           “Just take it one step at a time. Now…who is it possessing?” Dakota said.

           “Well, it’s got to be someone with some kind of weakness, like a chink in the armor that the demon can get in though. Someone with an addiction or emotional distress.”

           “Well, this is Amada’s first flight after the crash. If I was her I’d be pretty messed up.” Sam commented. Just then a pretty, young, blond flight attendant walked by and Dean stopped her.

           “Excuse me miss, are you Amanda?” he asked.

           “No, I’m not.” The stewardess replies politely.

           “Oh. Sorry. My mistake.” Dean said. He turned around in his seat and saw another young blond girl dressed in a flight attendant uniform. “That must be Amada back there.” Sam and Kota turned around in their seats to look at the girl. “I’ll go talk to her, and I’ll get a read on her mental state.”

           “What if she’s already possessed?” Sam asked.

           “There’s ways to test that. I brought Holy Water.” Dean said reaching into his bag for the water.

           “How did you get that past security?” Dakota asked.

           “Okay, let me rephrase. I brought exactly three ounces of Holy Water.” Dean sassed her.

Sam grabbed the Holy Water out of Dean’s hands and shoved it into his jacket and said, “No. I think we can go more subtle. If she’s possessed, she’ll flitch at the name of God.”

Dean nodded, unbuckled, and started walking towards the back of the plane when Dakota called him back.

           “What?” he asked.

           “Make sure you say it in Latin.” She reminded him.

           “Yeah. I know.” And he started to walk away again.

           “Hey!” Sam called Dean back.

           “What!?” Dean snapped.

           “In Latin, it’s Cristo.” Sam said.

           “Dude! I know! I’m not an idiot!” Dean said and walked away for the third and final time to talk to Amanda.

           “That’s debatable.” Dakota said under her breath. Sam started laughing then abruptly stopped and turned to his twin.

           “Hey, Kota. I’m really sorry about the other day. I’m sorry I was such a dick about it. I really like your tattoo and I don’t know why I yelled at you about it.” Sam said.

           “Thank you. I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch to you since you commented on it.” Dakota said.

           “So, we’re okay Mouse?”

           “Yeah, we’re okay Moose.” And they smiled at each other just as Dean came back to their seats.

           “Alright, well she has got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet.” Dean said sitting down. “There’s no demon in her and there’s no demon getting in her.”

           “So it could be anyone on the plane.” Sam summarized.

The plane began to rattle around in the air and Dean gripped on to the armrest and Dakota’s arm for dear life.

           “Common! That can’t be normal!” Dean said.

           “Hey, it’s just a bit of turbulence.” Sam said, trying to calm his brother down.

           “This plane is going to crash so stop treating me like I’m freakin’ four!” Dean whispered harshly.

           “Can you maybe let go of my arm now? Dakota asked and Dean immediately released her.

           “Sorry baby girl.” Dean said.

           “Okay, you’ve got to calm down!” Sam said.

           “Dude! Stow the touchy-feely-self-help-yoga crap!” Dean said in a loud whisper.

           “Dean, when you panic you leave yourself wide open to demonic possession so you’ve got to calm yourself down right now!” Dakota scolded.

Dean took some calming deep breath and Sam said, “Good. Now, I think I found an exorcism in here that will work.” He opened their dad’s journal to the correct page.

           “What do we have to do?” Kota asked.

           “It’s two parts. The first part expels the demon from the body and makes it manifest, which actually makes it more powerful.” Sam explained.

           “More powerful?” Dean asked.

           “Yeah. It doesn’t need to possess anyone anymore. Which is actually a good thing.” Sam stated.

           “Oh. Sorry, but why is this a good thing?” Dakota asked.

           “Because the second part sends the bastard back to Hell. Once and for all.” Sam said.  

           “Well, first thing first, we have to find the thing.” Dean pointed out.

Dean was walking up and down the aisle of the plane with his EMF reader while Sam and Dakota looked over the exorcism and tried to memorize as much of it as they could. Dakota went up to Dean.

           “Find anything?” she asked.

           “No. How much time do we have?”

           “15 minutes. Maybe we missed someone.”

           “Maybe the thing’s just not on the plane.”

           “You believe that?”

           “I will if you will.” Dean said and Dakota looked at him like he was crazy. Suddenly, Dean froze. Kota followed his gaze until she landed on the co-piolet who had just stepped out of the cockpit.

           “What is it?” Kota asked

           “Christo.” Dean said and the co-piolet flinched and turned to look at them with black eyes. The co-piolet didn’t seem to notice them and went back to the cockpit. Kota and Dean stared at each other. Dean and Dakota briskly walked back to their seats and told Sam who the demon was. They went to go talk to Amada.

           “She’s not going to believe this, dude.” Sam said.

           “We’ve got twelve minutes.” Dakota exclaimed.

           “Oh, hi. The flight’s not to bumpy for you, I hope.” Amada said, recognizing Dean.

           “Actually, that’s kinda what we need to talk to you about.” Sam said and Dean closed the curtain that hung in the back of the plane.

           “Um, okay. What can I do for you?” Amada asked.

           “Okay. This is going to sound nuts. But, we don’t really have time for the ‘the truth is out there’ speech.” Dean said.

           “Look. We know you were on flight 2485. And we’ve spoken to some of the other passengers and we know it wasn’t mechanical failure that brought down the plane.” Dakota said.

           “And we need your help to stop it from happening again.” Sam finished.

           “I’m…I…I’m sorry. I’m very busy.” Amanda said and she tried to push past the two giant guarding the door.

           “Wait, just listen to me. The piolet from flight 2485, Chuck Lambert, he’s dead.” Dean told her

           “Wait. What? Chuck is dead?” Amada asked.

           “He died in a plane crash. Now, that’s two plane crashes in two months, you don’t think that’s strange?” Dean said.

           “Look, there was something wrong with flight 2485. Maybe you sensed it, maybe you didn’t. But there’s something wrong with this plane too.” Sam explained.

           “Amanda, you have to believe us.” Dakota pleaded.

Amanda hesitated for a moment then said, “On 2485, there was this…this man…he had these eyes.”

           “Yes! That’s exactly what we’re talking about!” Kota said.

           “But, I don’t understand. What are you asking me to do?” Amanda asked.

           “Okay, the co-piolet, we need you to bring him back here.” Dean instructed her.

           “What does he have to do with any of this?” Amada asked.’

           “We _really_ don’t have time to explain. We just need to talk to him okay.” Dakota said.

           “Well, how am I supposed to do that?” Amanda questioned.

           “Whatever it takes!” Sam exclaimed.

           “Do you know that I could lose my job…” Amanda started.

           “You’re going to lose a lot more than that if you don’t help us out.” Dean said cutting her off. Amanda stared at all three of them for a moment before nodding and going to get the co-piolet. Dean pulled their dad’s journal out of his leather jacket and handed it to Sam, then he and Dakota stood on either side of the door and waited for the co-piolet. When he entered Dean punched him square in the jaw sending him flying towards Dakota who climbed on to his chest and kept him pinned down. Then Dean pulled out duct tape and put it over the demon’s mouth.

           “What are you doing!?” Amanda shirked.

           “Relax.” Sam said and he poured Holy Water onto the demon’s chest and they could all see the burns where the water hit him. Amanda started to panic and Dakota sent her outside of the backroom to make sure no one came in while Dean threw punches at the possessed co-piolet.

           “Hurry up Sam!” Dean said. Sam handed Dakota the Holy Water and began to read the exorcism. The demon hit the Holy Water out of Kota’s hand and sent Dean flying across the room. Sam stopped the exorcism to check on his fallen siblings. The demon ripped off the tape covering his mouth and grabbed Sam by his hoodie.

           “I know what happened to your girlfriend.” It said with an evil smile, like it got a sick twisted pleasure from this. “She died screaming. Even now she burns!” Dakota got up and started beating the demon and yelled for Sam to continue. He finished the exorcism, but not before the demon kicked their dad’s journal out of reach. Black smoke poured from it’s mouth and it screamed, then the smoke disappeared into the vents.

           “It’s in the plane! Hurry up! We got to finish this!” Dean yelled and stayed to look over the injured co-piolet while Sam and Dakota searched for their dad’s hunting journal.

Before they could make it very far, the plane went dark and started falling. All the passengers and flight attendants started screaming. The plane started gaining speed just as Dakota found the journal and began to finish the exorcism. As soon as she finished reading the plane leveled back out and she took a deep breath. She turned around to see her brothers standing there, both completely fine, although Dean looked like he might be sick.

……….

The plane had safely landed back at Gate 13 and all the passengers began to exit the plane and where greeted by police, paramedics, and the NTSB. The Winchesters walked past Amada who was answering the FBI’s questions and saw her mouth “Thank you” at them. They nodded in response.

           “Let’s get out of here.” Dean said and they started to walk out of the airport. Dakota suddenly got that weird feeling again, like she could feel emotions that weren’t hers. She looked over at Sam and saw that he had a deep scowl on his face. She brushed the feeling off and assumed it was just the close connection she had always had with her twin.

           “Are you okay?” She asked Sam. He stopped walking and turned around to answer her.

           “It…It knew about Jessica.” Sam said.

           “Sam, these things, they read minds. They lie. That’s all it was.” Dean assured him.

           “Yeah.” Sam whispered, although he didn’t sound convinced.

           “Common guys.” Kota said walking toward the exit.

……….

Sam, Dean, and Dakota met back up with Jerry to fill him in on what had really happened on flights 2485 and 242.

           “Thank you. Nobody knows what you did, but I do. You saved a lot of people. Your dad is going to be proud.” Jerry said and he shook their hands.

           “We’ll see you around Jerry.” Sam said and Jerry walked away leaving the siblings standing by the Impala.

           “Hey, Jerry!” Dean yelled calling him back over, “I meant to ask, how did you get my number anyways? I’ve only had it for like six months.”

           “Your dad gave it to me.” Jerry explained.

           “What? When did you talk to him?” Dakota asked.

           “Well, I didn’t exactly talk to him. I called his number and his voice message said to give you a call.” Jerry said. “Anyways, thanks again.” And with that he left, leaving a very confused Sam, Dean, and Kota in his wake. They sat on the hood of the Impala and Dean tried to call their dad.

           “This doesn’t make any sense. I’ve tried calling Dad and the number is out of service.” Sam said. Dean put the phone on speaker and sure enough their dad’s voice came through saying if anyone needed help they could call Dean or Dakota and then listed their phone numbers.  Sam stood up looking furious and got in the passenger seat, slamming the door behind him. 


	9. Bloody Mary

"Sam, wake up!" Dakota and Dean yelled shaking Sam's shoulders. He had fallen asleep in the passenger seat and was clearly having a nightmare. Sam sat up and looked around confused, then looked to his siblings for answers.

"You were having a nightmare." Dakota explained.

"Yeah. _Another_ one." Dean said.

"Hey, at least I got some sleep." Sam said trying to lighten the mood. Dakota just sighed.

"You know, sooner or later we're going to have to talk about this." Dean said.

"We here?" Sam asked.

"Yup. Welcome to the beautiful Toledo, Ohio." Dakota said. "Let's go find out what happened to Mr. Steven Shoemaker." She said getting out of the car. They walked into the morgue and went up to a desk with the name plate "Dr. D. Feilklowic" on it. A man a desk over, dressed in scrubs, asked if he could help them.

"Hi. We're the med students." Dakota improvised.

"What?" the man asked.

"Feilklowic didn't tell you? We called him and he said to drop by. We're med students from Ohio State. He's supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse. It's for our paper." Dean added on.

"Well, I'm sorry he's at lunch." The man said.

"Oh. That's weird. He said...you know what, it doesn't matter what he said. Would you mind showing us the body yourself?" Sam asked.

"Sorry, I can't. The doc will be back in an hour." The man stated.

"An hour? Oh, we have to be heading back to Columbus by then." Dakota said then she leaned over and put her hands on the desk, "Please, this paper is, like, half our grade! Would you mind helping us out?" She asked in a voice dripping with sweetness, a small smile, and a bat of her eyelashes. The man stared at her and then stood and had them follow him.

"I'm going to hit him in the face if he ever looks at my baby sister like that again." Dean muttered under his breath and Dakota shot him glare telling him to shut up.

"Now, the newspaper's say his daughter found him and that she said his eyes were bleeding." Sam said.

"More than that. They practically liquefied." Said the man they had been dealing with and he pulled the sheet off the body to show them the extent of the damage.

"Any sigh of a struggle? That maybe someone did this to him?" Dean asked.

"Nope, besides the daughter he was all alone." The man in scrubs said.

"What's the official cause of death?" Sam asked.

"Doc's not sure. He's thinking stroke or massive brain aneurysm. Something burst in their that's for sure" Said the man.

"What do you mean?" asked Dakota.

"Intense cerebral bleeding. This guy had more blood in his skull then anyone I'd ever seen." The medic said.

"The eyes. What could have done that?" Sam asked.

"Beats me. I've never seen anything like it." The medic told them.

"Hey do you think we could see the police report, for our paper?" Dakota asked him

"I'm not really supposed to show you that." He said. Dakota looked up at him with her big green eyes and pouted her perfect pink lips, "But I guess I can make an exception." Said the man smiling down at her. Dakota heard Dean growl behind her, he always got so overprotective of her. They left the medic and corpse and started heading back down the stairs to the car.

"This might not be one of ours. It might just be some freak medical thing." Sam said.

"How many times in Dad's long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of some horrid supernatural death?" Dean asked him.

"Um, almost never." Sam replied.

"Actually, I believe the correct answer is never, not almost never." Dakota stepped in.

"Exactly! Now, let's go talk to the daughter." Dean said.

..........

When they got to the Shoemaker residence the front door was open and people dressed all in black were walking in and out of the door. The siblings walked in and realized they had just walked into wake.

"I think we're a little under dressed." Dean commented and they walked further into the house. Eventually, Dakota stopped a man and asked where they could find Mr. Shoemakers daughter. The man walked them to the backyard and pointed out a young woman to them.

"Hi. You must be Donna, right?" Dean asked the woman with short, dark hair. She nodded her head, confirming she was the woman they were looking for. Donna's friend with long blond hair and freckles sat next to her, eyeing Dean.

"Hi. We're really sorry about your dad. I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean and my sister Dakota." Sam introduced them. "We worked with your dad."

Donna and her friend shared a surprised look and turned to her and said, "You did?"

"Yeah. I mean, this whole thing. A stroke!" Dean said and Donna looked down at her lap.

"I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now." Donna's friend snapped.

"No. It's okay. I'm okay." Donna said before turning back to the Winchesters.

"Were there ever any symptoms? Dizziness, migraines?" Dakota asked. Donna shook her head. A young girl who looked to be around age ten turned around to look at Donna.

"That's because it wasn't a stroke!" A little girl said.

"Lily! Don't say that!" Donna said.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I'm sorry. She's just upset." Donna apologized.

"No! It happened because of me!" Lily said.

"Lily. Why would you say something like that?" Sam asked, bending down to talk to the girl.

"Right before he died, I said it." Lily said.

"Said what, sweetie?" Dakota asked.

"Bloody Mary. Three times in the bathroom mirror. She took his eyes. That's what she does." Lily confessed. Dakota reached down to her right wrist where she had a friendship bracelet she had made with a girl she used to play that very game with when they were young girls. She hadn't told her brothers about that, or even about the girl she had been friends with.

"That's not why Dad died. This isn't your fault!" Donna said to Lily.

"I think your sister is right, Lily. There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. I mean, your dad didn't say it, did he?" Dean said.

"No. I don't think so." Lily confirmed.

..........

Sam, Dean, and Dakota left the grieving sisters alone and went to sneak around the rest of the house for clues. They found the bathroom Mr. Shoemaker had died in, where there were bloodstains on the floor.

"The Bloody Mary legend, Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked. Dakota shook her head.

"Not that I know of." Dean replied.

"I mean, everywhere else, all over the country kids play...Bloody Mary," Kota shot a look at the bathroom mirror, "and as far as we know nobody's died from it." She pointed out.

"Yeah, well, maybe everywhere else it's just a story, but here it's actually happening." Dean said.

"You think this is the place where the legend began? But according to the story the person who says...", Sam too looked at the mirror before continuing, "the person who says you know what, gets it. But here..."

"Shoemaker gets it, yeah. Never heard anything like that before." Dean said.

"Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and Lily's right according to the legend you know who scratches your eyes out." Dakota pointed out.

"It's worth checking into." Sam said. Dean shushed him and pointed to the hallway where they could hear a pair of heels coming towards them. They walked out of the bathroom and right into Donna's friend.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"We...we had to go to the bathroom." Dean said and Sam and Dakota stared at him like he was an idiot.

"Who are you?" She asked them.

"Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad." Dean said.

"He was a day trader, he worked by himself." The girl snapped.

"No. I know, I meant..." Dean started.

"And all those weird questions down stairs. What was that? So you start talking, or I start screaming!" She threatened.

"Alright! Alright!" Sam said.

"We think something happened to Donna's dad." Dakota said.

"Yeah. A stroke." The girl said.

"That's not the sign of a typical stroke. We think it might be something else." Sam said.

"Like what?" Donna's friend asked.

"Honestly, we don't know yet, but we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth" Sam told her.

"So, if you're going to scream, go right ahead." Dean said.

"Who are you? Cops?" She asked.

"Something like that." Dakota said.

"Tell you what, you or your friends notice anything strange or out of the ordinary, you give us a call." Sam said writing their numbers down. He handed it to her and then walked out of the house, followed by Dean and Dakota.

..........

The Winchesters went to the local library to look for any information they could dig up on Bloody Mary or the Shoemaker family.

"Okay, so say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town, there's got to be some sort of proof. A local woman who died nasty." Dean said.

"Yeah, but a legend this big, that's going to be hard. I mean, I must have heard fifty different versions." Dakota said

"One says she a witch, the other says she's a mutilated bride, there are hundreds more." Sam continued.

"Alright, so what are we supposed to be looking for?" Dean asked.

"Well, every version has a few things in common. There's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies in front of a mirror." Dakota said.

"So, we got to look through old newspapers, public records, as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill." Sam said.

"Well that's going to be annoying." Dean said.

"No. It won't be so bad as long as we..." Sam gestured to the computers then noticed the "out of order" signs hanging on all the computers. "I take it back. This will be very annoying."

..........

Dean and Dakota were sitting at the table in their motel room going through a stack of books and articles while Sam finally got some sleep on one of the beds. Suddenly Sam gasped awake and looked over at his siblings who looked up from their books.

"Why'd you let me fall asleep?" Sam asked groggily.

"Cause I'm an awesome brother." Dean said sarcastically.

"So what'd you dream about?" Dakota asked him.

"Lollipops and candy canes." Sam said in a dead serious voice, staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah. Sure." Dean said still not looking up from the book he was reading.

"You guys find anything?" Sam asked.

"Besides a whole new level of frustration? No." Dean said.

"We've looked at everything. A few local women, a Laura and a Katherine committed suicide in front of a mirror and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave, but no Mary." Dakota said going through her notes. Sam sighed and flopped back down onto the bed.

"Maybe we just haven't found it yet." He said.

'I've also been searching for strange deaths in the area, ya know, eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing and there's nothing. Whatever's happening here, maybe it's not Mary." Dean told him. Sam's phone started ringing and he went to answer it while Dakota and dean went back to their research.

..........

It had been Donna's friend, who they learned was Charlie, who had called them to tell them that a friend of hers named Jill had died the same way Donna's dad had, eyes and all.

"They found her on the bathroom floor. And her eyes...they were missing!" Charlie sobbed.

"I'm sorry." Dakota said sincerely.

"And she said it! I heard her say it. But it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane right?" She asked.

"No. You're not insane" Dean told her.

"That makes me feel so much worse." Charlie cried.

"Look, we think something's happening here, something that can't be explained." Sam said.

"And we're going to stop it, but we could use your help." Dean said and Dakota glared at him. She hated when her brothers brought beautiful women along with them. Charlie seemed like a nice enough girl, but Dakota was willing to bet she would be like all the others, they'd spent the whole time flirting and someone always ended up heart broken.

..........

They went to Jill's house and waited outside her window to be let in so she wouldn't have to explain her bringing three strangers to the house to Jill's mom. She opened up the window and they climbed into Jill's bedroom.

"What did you tell Jill's mom?" Sam asked.

"Just that I needed some time alone with Jill's things. I hate lying to her" Charlie said.

"Trust us, it's for the greater good." Dean said rapping an arm around Charlie's shoulders. "Kota, hit the lights."

Dakota walked over to the light switch and turned them off.

"What are you guys looking for?" Charlie asked them.

"Well, we'll let you know as soon as we find it." Dean answered.

Sam pulled out a camcorder and asked Dakota to turn the night-vision on for him. He turned the camera on and looked at Dean through the lenses.

"Do I look like Paris Hilton?" Dean asked him jokingly then laughed at his own joke.

"Moron." Dakota muttered and Dean stuck his tongue out at her. She turned and made a face at him before Sam stopped them.

"Can we act professional? Please?" Sam begged as he started moving the camera around the room to the different mirrors. "I don't get it. The first victim didn't summon Mary and the second victim did. How is she choosing them?" Sam wondered.

"Beats me." Dean said as he and Dakota waved their EMP meters around different sides of the room.

"I wanna know why Jill said it in the first place." Dakota said.

"It was just a joke. Haven't you ever played before." Charlie said.

"Well, yeah, but that's not the point. Someone else is going to say it again and soon." Dakota snapped at her.

"Hey!" Sam called from the bathroom where Jill had died, "There's a black light in the trunk, right?" He asked his siblings. Dakota climbed out the window, rushed to the car, grabbed the light, and returned to Jill's bedroom. Dean drew the curtains closed behind her and Sam laid the mirror out on the bed. The four knelt down around the bed as Sam turned the black light on. The light hit the back of the mirror and they could see bloody hand prints and a name.

"Cary Bryman?" Charlie read.

"Do you know who that is?" Sam asked.

"No." Charlie replied and the Winchesters all shared a look.

..........

Sam had gone to do some research while Dean and Charlie sat next to each other on a park bench flirting away. Dakota laid a little ways away from them in the grass. When Sam walked back over to them, Dakota got up and sat of the bench by her oldest brother.

"So, Cary Bryman was an eight-year-old boy." Sam said

"Was?" Dakota asked.

"Yeah, two years ago he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry, but nobody got the plates or saw the driver." Sam read from his notes.

"Oh my God. Jill drove that car!" Charlie exclaimed.

"We need to get back to your friend Donna's house." Dean told her.

They did the same routine with the back light and bathroom mirror that Mr. Shoemaker had died in front of and sure enough there were bloody hand prints and a name, Linda Shoemaker. They went down to the living room to question Donna.

"Why are you asking me all this?" She asked.

"We're very sorry, but it's important." Dakota told Donna.

"Yeah, Linda's my mom and she overdosed on sleeping pills, it was an accident and that's it! I think you should leave. Just get out of my house!" Donna yelled at them.

"Do you really think her dad killed her mom?" Charlie asked them.

"Maybe." Sam said.

"I think I should stick around." Charlie said.

"Yeah, no way kid. We'll call you when we're done with this. Just, whatever you do don't say it." Dean said and Dakota smiled.

"Believe me I won't." Charlie said.

..........

Dean was sitting at Sam's laptop doing more research for the case. They had a portable printer with them and Dean was printing all the relevant articles.

"Wait. You're doing a nationwide search?" Dakota asked Dean.

"Yup. NCIS, FBI, if there's a Mary out there who has died in front of a mirror, I'm looking for her." Dean answered.

"But if she's haunting the town, she should have died in the town." Sam pointed out.

"I'm telling you, Kota and I have checked everything local and got nothing." Dean said.

"The way Mary's choosing her victims, it seems like there's a pattern." Sam said.

"I noticed that too." Dakota said, joining her brothers at the table.

"I mean, with Mr. Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run." Sam said.

"They all had secrets that involved someone's death."

"There's a lot of lore about how mirrors show a true reflection of your soul, which is why it's bad luck to break them." Dakota said.

"So maybe if you've got a secret, a really bad one where someone dies, Mary sees it and punishes you for it." Dean said.

"Whether you're the one who summoned her or not." Sam said.

"Check this out." Dean said as he turned the computer to face his siblings. On the screen was an article about a woman named Mary who had died. He printed off some photos accompanying the article and handed them around. One showed a mirror with a bloody hand print on it.

"That looks like the same hand print." Dakota said

"Her name was Mary Worthington. An unsolved murder in Fort Wane, Indiana." Dean read from the article.

"Looks like we're going to Indiana." Sam said as he stood up to start packing.

"Ugh. Can't we stay here tonight and go tomorrow? I'm tired." Dakota whined.

"You can sleep in the car. Common Squirt, we gotta to." Dean said and he went to join Sam in packing.


	10. Bloody Mary Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by "Bone into Dust" by Fred Haring

The Winchesters drove through the night and made it to Fort Wayne by 10 am. They tracked down the officer who had worked the Mary Worthington case and went to question him.      

“I was on the job for 35 years, a detective for most of that, now everyone packs it in with a few loose ends, but the Mary Worthington murder, that one still gets me.” The former detective said.

           “What exactly happened?” Dean asked him.

           “You three said you were reporters?” The former cop asked them.

Sam nodded then read some of his notes to the man, “We know Mary was 19 and lived alone. We now she won a few local beauty contest and dreamt of getting out of Indiana, becoming an actress. And we know the night of March 29th someone broke into her apartment and murdered her. Cut out her eyes with a knife.”

           “That’s right.” The former detective said.

           “See sir, when we ask you what happened, we want to know what you think happened.” Dakota explained. The officer stared at her for a moment then went into another room and grabbed a box from a filing cabinet.

           “Technically, I’m not supposed to have these.” He pulled out the original case file and opened it to a crime scene photo of the mirror with blood on it. “Now see that there, ‘Tre’? I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer.”

           “You know who it was?” Sam asked.

           “Not for sure, but there was a local man, a surgeon, Trever Sampson, and I think he cut her up good.”

           “Why would he do that?” Sam asked from where he was preached on the desk.

           “In Mary’s diary she mentioned a man that she was seeing, she always called him by his initial, T.” Dakota started to right down notes on what the man was telling them in her little notebook, “Well, in her last entry she said she was going to tell T’s wife about their affair.” The former detective told them.

           “Yeah, but how do you know it was this guy Sampson that killed her?” Deana asked.

           “It’s hard to say…but the way her eyes were cut out, it was almost professional.”

           “But you could never prove it.” Dean stated more than asked.

           “No. No prints. No witnesses. He was meticulous.”

           “Is he still alive?” Sam asked.

           “Nope. If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy’s secret. But she never did.”

           “Where is she buried?” Kota asked.

           “She wasn’t. She was cremated.” The man said and Dakota saw Dean practically roll his eyes out of the corner of her eye.

           “What about that mirror? It’s not in some evidence lockup somewhere is it?” Dean asked pointing to the mirror in the photo.

           “No. It was returned to Mary’s family a long time ago.”

           “You have the names of her family by any chance?” Sam asked.

……….

Sam, Dean, and Dakota were in the Impala sitting in what now felt like there assigned seats, Dean driving, Sam in shotgun, and Dakota sprawled out in the back with her jean jacket against the door acting as her pillow, even if she had no intention of sleeping. They were heading back to Toledo, Ohio and Sam was on the phone with the last of Mary Worthington’s relatives; then he hung up and told his brother and sister what he had learned.

           “So, that was Mary’s brother. The mirror was in the family for years, until he sold it one week ago to a store named State Antiques in Toledo.”

           “Oh you’ve gotta be kidding me!?” Dakota said.

           “So, wherever the mirror goes, Mary goes.” Dean said.

           “Her spirit is definitely tied up to it somehow.” Sam agreed.

           “Wait, isn’t there an old superstition that says mirrors can capture spirits?” Kota asked her brothers.

           “Yeah, there is. When someone would die in a house they would cover the mirrors so the ghost wouldn’t get trapped.” Sam told them.

           “So, Mary dies in front of a mirror and it draws in her spirit.” Dean summarized.

           “Yeah, but how could she move through so many mirrors?” Sam asked.

           “I don’t know, but if the mirror is a source I say we find it and smash it.” Dean said.

           “I don’t know. Maybe.” Dakota murmured from the backseat. Sam’s phone started ringing and he went to answer; his eyes went wide and he tried to calm the person on the other end of the line down.

           “Charlie’s in trouble!” Sam said and Dean stepped on the gas. Typical, a pretty girl gets in the middle of a case, thinks she can help, gets herself into trouble, then the superhero brothers have to swoop in and save the damsel in distress, Dakota thought with an eye roll.

……….

They got Charlie from her house and brought her to the motel room. The Winchesters went to work covering everything in the room that could give any kind of reflection. Sam sat down to comfort the girl and tell her that she could open her eyes now. Dakota really did feel bad for her, she could tell how scared the girl was, she would just feel a lot worse for her if Charlie wasn’t flirting with her big brothers.

Dakota could feel Charlies’ fear and sadness and guilt like she had felt Dean’s in the airport a few weeks ago, but it wasn’t nearly as strong. With Dean, Kota had figured it was just the strong connection she had with her brother’s, but she barely knew Charlie. Why was she feeling this now?

           “Now, here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to stay right on this bed and you’re not going to look at anything with glass or a reflection.” Sam said in a gentle whisper.

           “But I can’t keep that up forever.” Charlie pointed out. “I’m going to die, aren’t I?” she asked with tears pouring down her cheeks.

           ‘No, you’re not. Not anytime soon.” Dakota said sitting on the bed across from her. Dean sat down on the opposite side of Charlie from Sam.

           “Alright Charlie. We need to know what happened.” Dean told her.

           “We were in the bathroom, Donna said it.” Charlie explained.

           “That’s not what we’re talking about.” Dean said. “Something happened, didn’t it? In your life. A secret where someone got hurt.” Charlie looked down at her hands and the siblings shared a look.

           “Can you tell us about it?” Dakota asked her sweetly. Charlie told them the story of her relationship with a guy who she loved, but who scared her. When she finally got up the courage to leave he threatened to kill himself if she left him and she did anyways. Her boyfriend followed through with his threat and committed suicide and Charlie had felt it was her fault ever since.

……….

The Impala was driving through the rain on its way to State Antiques and Mary’s mirror.

“Ya know the boyfriend killing himself, that’s not really Charlie’s fault.” Dean pointed out.

           “Spirits don’t exactly see shades of gray, Dean. Charlie had a secret and someone died. That’s good enough for Mary.” Sam said.

           “I guess. Still seems like a bit of a stretch.” Dakota said.

           “Ya know, I’ve been thinking it might not be enough to just smash that mirror. I mean, Mary’s hard to pin down, she moves from mirror to mirror so who’s to say she’s not just going to keep hiding in them forever. So maybe we should try to pin her down. Ya know summon her to her mirror and then smash it.” Sam told them.

           “Well how do you know that’s going to work?” Dean asked.

           “Yeah, and who’s going to summon her?” Dakota asked.

           “I will.” Sam said and Dean shook his head and Dakota just stared at her twin with a look of sympathy. She and Dean knew how guilty Sam felt about Jess. “She’ll come after me.”

Finally, Dean had had enough. He pulled the Impala off to the side of the road and said, “Alright. That’s it. This is about Jessica isn’t it?” Sam didn’t answer; he just stared ahead into the rain. “You think this is your dirty little secret? That you killed her somehow? Sam this has got to stop, man! I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night. It’s going to kill you! Now listen to me, it wasn’t your fault!”

           “Dean’s right Sam. It wasn’t your fault and she wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. If you want to blame someone, blame the thing that killed her. Hell, you can take a swing at Dean and me if you want since it was our idea to drag you away.” Dakota told her brother, putting a hand on his shoulder from the backseat. He tensed under her touched then relaxed into it.

           “I don’t blame you.” Sam said

           “Well, you shouldn’t blame yourself! Cause there’s nothing you could have done!” Dean snapped.

           “I could have warned her.” Sam said.

           “About what! A monster that killed Mom 22 years ago, about hunting? There’s no way you could have known.” Dakota said.

           “And besides, all of this isn’t a secret! Kota and I know all about it! We were there! It’s not going to work with Mary anyways.” Dean said.

           “No you don’t. You don’t know all about it. I haven’t told you anything.” Sam told them.

           “What are you talking about?” Dakota asked.

           “Well it wouldn’t really be a secret if I told it, would it?” Sam said with a hint of a teasing tone in his voice.

           “No, I don’t like it. It’s not going to happen.” Dean stated.

           “Dean, that girl back there is going to die, unless we do something about it. And who knows how many more are going to die. Now we’re doing this.” Dean glared at Sam as he said this, “You’ve got to let me do this.”

……….

A very short and very tense drive later, they arrived at State Antiques and Dakota began picking the lock to get in while Sam and Dean stood guard. The shop was full of old dusty mirrors.

           “Well, isn’t that just fan-freakin-tastic.” Dakota said.

Dean pulled out the old photo the former detective had given them of the mirror and said, “Alright, let’s get looking.” They split up down three different aisles, but had no luck. “Maybe they already sold it.” Dean yelled from his aisle. Dakota looked at the end of her row and saw Mary’s mirror surrounded by many more mirrors.

           “I don’t think so.” Dakota called to her brothers.

           “That’s it.” Dean confirmed holding up the photo. He turned to Sam, “You sure about this?” Sam walked up the mirror with his crowbar in hand.

           “Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary.” Sam said and they waited for her to appear.

Dakota and Dean saw headlights coming from outside the shop.

           “I’ll go check that out. You two stay here. Smash anything that moves!” Dean said and he handed his crowbar to Dakota to replace the flashlight she was currently wielding.

Sam and Kota stood looking at the mirrors, holding there crowbars like baseball bats, when Dakota saw Mary appear in a mirror near Sam.

           “Sammy! On your right!” She yelled and Sam smashed the mirror. They were breaking mirrors left and right, wherever they saw Mary, but she had yet to show up in her mirror. Dakota and Sam watched in horror as Sam’s reflection started smirking at them and it’s eyes started bleeding. The real Sam started gasping for breath and his eyes started bleeding. Dakota rushed to Sam’s side, but there wasn’t much she could do. Suddenly her eyes began to bleed too and she feel to her knees.

           “It’s your fault. You killed her. You killed Jessica You never told her the truth, who you really were.” The reflection said. “But, it’s more than that. The nightmares you’ve been having of Jessica dying. You had them for days before she died. How could you leave her alone to die? You dreamt it would happen!” Dean ran in then and smashed the mirror, freeing his siblings.

           “Sammy! Baby girl!” Dean said running over to them.

           “It’s Sam.” Sam said in a weak voice.

           “God. You two okay?” Dean asked.

           “Peachy.” Dakota snapped. Dean got them off the ground and supported one sibling with each arm and started heading to the exit. They heard something behind them and slowly turned around. They saw Mary climbing out of the now broken mirror and she began crawling towards them. All three Winchesters eyes started bleeding then and they dropped to the floor in pain. Dean grabbed one of the only mirrors that was still in one piece and held it up for Mary to see her own reflection. Mary melted away into nothing and Dean threw the mirror her was holding, shattering it into a million pieces.

           “This has got to be, what, 600 years of bad luck?” Dean asked them jokingly.

           “I am never playing this stupid game again!” Dakota vowed.

……….

The boys were outside the car talking to Charlie and Dakota sat in the backseat fiddling with her friendship bracelet. This whole case she had been thinking about the time she had played Bloody Mary with her friend who gave her the bracelet. It had been ages since they talked. Dakota reached down for her phone and called the old number.

           “Hey Jo. Yeah, it has been a long time. Listen, you will not believe what I just hunted…”

Dakota finished her call vowing to talk to her again soon just has her brothers climbed in the car and started driving.

           “Hey Sam. Now that this is all over, I want you to tell us that that secret was.” Dean told his brother.

Sam let out a humorless laugh and said, “Look, you are my brother and sister and I’d die for you, but there are some things I need to keep to myself.” Dean let the subject drop for now. Suddenly, Sam shot up in his seat and stared out the window.

           “What is it?” Dakota asked.

           “Nothing. I thought I saw something.” Sam muttered.


	11. Skin Part 1

The Impala pulled up to a gas station and came to a stop while it’s passengers discussed their plans.

           “Alright. I’m thinking we hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south and hit Bisbee by midnight.” Dean said.

           “Sounds good to me.” Dakota said, they looked at Sam for his conformation, but he was staring at him phone.

           “Sam wears woman’s underwear.” Dean said trying to snap Sam out of his daze.

           “I’m the older twin.” Dakota said giggling.

           “No you’re not. I’ve been listening, I’m just busy.” Sam said, still not looking up from the phone.

           “Whatcha doing?” Dakota asked.

           “Reading e-mails.” Sam answered as Dean climbed out of the car to fill it with gas.

           “E-mails from who?” Dean asked.

           “From my friends at Stanford.” Sam told him.

           “You’re still in touch with them?” Dakota asked, surprised.

           “Yeah, why not?” Sam said.

           “So, what exactly do you tell them? Ya know about where you been whatcha been doing.” Dean asked him.

           “I tell them I’m on a road trip with my big brother and twin sister. I tell them that I needed some time off.” Sam answered. Dean was leaning on the back door of the car so he could talk to his siblings better and Dakota had draped herself over the back of the front seats.

           “So you lie to them?” Dean asked.

           “Dean, knock it off.” Dakota said glaring at him.

           “No, I just don’t tell them everything.” Sam answered Dean.

           “Yeah, that’s called lying. I get it, telling them the truth is far worse.” Dean said with a small humorless laugh.

           “Are you two morons trying to start a fight?” Dakota asked and she slumped back down in her seat not wanting to be near the two idiots she had the unfortunate luck of calling brothers.

           “What am I supposed to do cut everyone out of my life?” Sam asked Dean.

           “Look it sucks, but a job like this, you can’t get close to people.” Dean said.

           “You’re kinda anti-social, you know that?” Sam said.

           “Boys, if you keep antagonizing each other I’m going to spend the car ride pulling your hair and giving you wetwillies like a five-year-old.” Dakota threatened.

           “Yes ma’am.” Dean said.

Sam went back to his phone and got a surprised look on his face as he read his latest e-mail.

           “What?” Dakota asked.

           “This e-mail from a girl, Rebecca Warren, she’s a friend of mine.” Sam explained.

           “Is she hot?” Dean asked. Dakota rolled her eyes and Sam ignored him and continued explaining.

           “I went to school with her and her brother Zack. She says Zack has been charged with murder. They say he killed his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn’t do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case.” Sam told them.

           “Dude, what kinda people are you hanging out with?” Dean asked.

           “I know Zack! He’s no killer.” Sam defended.

           “Well, according to the police he is.” Dakota piped in from the back seat.

           “Maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you.” Dean said.

           “They’re in St. Louis. We’re going.” Sam stated.

           “Sam, I’m sorry about your Zack, but, common, this doesn’t really sound like a job. We have a job waiting for us in Bisbee.” Dakota said.

           “They’re my friends!” Sam said.

           “St. Louis is almost 400 miles behind us!” Dean told him. Sam gave Dean his signature puppy dog eyes and Dean sighed before getting the car and starts driving.

           “Really Dean? You’re going to fall for that? You’re going to give up that easily!” Dakota yelled from where she had dramatically thrown herself down in the back seat.

……….

The got to Rebecca and Zack Warren’s house and a petite blond woman answered the door and grabbed Sam into a hug.

           “Well if it isn’t Little Becky.” Sam said teasingly.

           “Ya know what you can do with that Little Becky crap!” Rebecca said and Dean and Dakota rolled their eyes. “I didn’t think you would come here.” She said once she released Sam.

           “Hi. Dean, older brother.” Dean stepped in and gave his most charming smile.

           “And I’m Dakota, Sam’s twin sister.” Dakota said shaking Rebecca’s hand.

           “Come on in.” Rebecca said holding the door open for them.

           “Beautiful home.” Dakota commented.

           “Yeah, nice place you got here.” Dean added on.

           “It’s my parents. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I’m going to stay until Zack’s free.” She explained.

           “Where are your folks?” Sam asked.

           “They live in Paris for half the year. They are on their way home for the trial.” Rebecca told them. Dakota’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She had always secretly wanted to go to Paris, really all of Europe. She couldn’t imagine getting to live there for six months.

           “Do you guys want a beer?” Rebecca asked.

           “Aye.” Dean said smiling and pointing at the girl.

           “No thanks.” Sam and Dakota both politely declined.

           “Why don’t you tell us what happened.” Sam told her.

Rebecca told them how her brother had found his girlfriend beaten, cut, tied to a chair, and not breathing. He immediately called 911 and when the police showed up they arrested him.

           “The only way he could have killed Emily was if he was in two places at the same time! The security tape across the street shows Zack going there at 10:30, right before Emily died. But I swear he was here having beers with me until at least after 12!” Rebecca said and she started crying.

           “Ya know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack’s house.” Sam gently suggested.

           “What could you do?” She asked.

           “Well, me not much. But Dean’s a cop and Dakota is in the academy right now.” Sam said.

           “Yes, we are the authorities.” Dakota confirmed the lie.

           “Detective, actually, in Bisbee, Arizona. But, I’m off duty now and it might be nice for my rookie sister to see some field action” Dean said. Dakota stepped on his foot, smiling all the while.

           “Beck, I know that Zack didn’t do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he’s innocent.” Sam said. Rebecca agreed to give them the keys to the crime scene. As she walked out of the room Dean gave a low whistle.

           “Wow, you’re a real straight shooter with your friends.” Dean commented.

           “Really? We’re doing this now?” Dakota asked.

           “Zack and Becky need our help.” Sam said.

           “I just don’t think this is our kinda problem.” Dean said.

           “Someone being in two places at once? We’ve looked into less.” Sam told him.

           “The man has a point Dean.” Dakota commented. “Alright Sam. You win. Maybe there is a case here.”

……….

Sam, Dean, Dakota, and Becky pulled up in front of Zack’s apartment and got out of the car.

           “You’re sure this is alright?” Rebecca asked.

           “Yes, we are officers of the law.” Dean said gesturing to himself and Dakota before walking towards the apartment building.

They walked into a bloody apartment and Dean and Dakota immediately split up looking for clues while Sam stayed with Becky who was having a hard time seeing all of this for the first time. Sam was asking Becky some questions and Dean was looking around the apartment when she noticed the dog next door barking, more than would be normal for a dog in a neighborhood.

           “You know, that dog used to be the sweetest thing.” Said Becky walking up behind Dakota.

           “What happened?” Dakota asked.

           “He just changed.” Rebecca said sadly.

           “Do you remember when?” Dakota asked.

           “I guess around the time of the murder.” Rebecca answered and Dakota turned to go find one of her brothers. She found Sam staring at a photo on the fridge.

           “So the neighbor’s dog started acting up right around the time of the murder.” Dakota told him.

           “Well, animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, I know, I just thought you might like to use this oh so valuable information I have discovered to prove to Dean that there is a case here.” Dakota sassed. Dean walked in from another room then and went to talk to Rebecca.

           “So, the security tape. Think your lawyers could get your hands on it. I just don’t have that kind of jurisdiction.” Dean said.

           “I’ve already got it.” Rebecca confessed. “I just didn’t want to say anything in front of two cops. I stole them off the lawyer’s desk, I just had to see for myself.”

           “Alright.” Dean said and motioned for her to lead the way. Dakota had started following Dean out when she noticed Sam wasn’t following, he was staring at the photo on the fridge again.

           “Hey. You alright?” Dakota asked her brother sweetly

           “Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Let’ get going.” Sam lied through his teeth and they left the apartment.

……….

They were back at Rebecca’s parent’s house watching the tapes. Sam was standing up, to fidgety to stay sitting, Dean was sitting on the armrest of the sofa, and Rebecca and Dakota were on the couch. Dean noticed the time stamp at the bottom of the video.

           “2204. That’s just after 10 pm.” He pointed out. “You said time of death was around 10:30.”

           “Our lawyer hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape is authentic.” Becky said.

           “Hey Beck? Do you think we could get those beers now?” Sam asked, Rebecca nodded and started towards the kitchen, “Maybe some sandwiches too?”

           “What is this, Hooters?” Becky asked teasingly. Dakota knew Sam must have seen something on the tape, in all the years they had been doing this Sam almost never asked for a glass of water at someone’s house, never mind for them to make a full meal. He must need Rebecca out of the room for something.

           “What is it?” Dean asked.

           “Check this out.” Sam said rewinding the tape. He played it in slow motion and they could see Zack’s eyes almost glow on the camera.

           “Maybe it’s a camera flare?” Dean said.

           “Really? You ever seen a camera flare like that before?” Dakota snapped, annoyed that Dean still didn’t think there was a case here.

           “Ya know, a lot of cultures believe that a photo can catch a glimpse of the soul. That dog that was freaking out, maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zack’s.” Sam theorized.

           “That would explain how he was two places at once.” Dakota agreed.

……….

The Impala rolled up to the back of Zack’s apartment the next morning. Dakota had slept through the quick drive from the motel to the crime scene and only woke when Sam and Dean climbed out of the car.

           “Okay. What are we doing here at 5:30 in the morning?” Dean asked. Dakota groaned when she heard the time and got out of the car.

           “Coffee!!!!” She said and Dean handed her a cup. She and Dean leaned on the hood of the Impala drinking their coffee as Sam looked around.

           “I realized that the tape shows the killer coming in, but not coming back out.” Sam explained.

           “So he came out the back door?” Dean asked as Dakota dropped her head to his shoulder, deciding it was far too early to be functioning.

           “Right. So there should be a trail to follow that the police didn’t look for.” Sam said.

           “Because they thought your friend Zack was the killer and he was still inside.” Dean realized. “Still doesn’t explain why we’re here at 5:30 in the morning.” Dean grumbled.

           “Preach.” Dakota mumbled still not lifting her head from Dean’s shoulder. It was silent for a few moment as Sam looked around.

           “Blood.” He said and nodded towards a telephone pole. “Somebody came this way.”

           “Yeah, but the trail ends. I don’t see anything over here.” Dakota said.

           “You haven’t even had your eyes open!” Dean teased.

           “Shut up.” Dakota said taking a big swig of coffee.

An ambulance with it’s lights and siren on drove by them then.

           “We’re going to have to go investigate that now, aren’t we?” Dakota asked. The boys didn’t answer her, just got in the car. Kota groaned and got in back hoping the crime scene was far enough away for her to get a few extra minutes of sleep.

No such luck. They arrived at the crime scene a few blocks away just as the police were putting up the crime scene tape. A small group of people had started gathering around the scene. They asked a few people what had happened and found that a man and tried to kill his wife by tying her up and beating her. Sam and Dakota went to check the back of the building for blood and found a small trail of it.

           “Hey!” Dean yelled grabbing their attention. “Remember when I said this wasn’t our kind of thing? I just talking to the officers first on scene and he said this guy’s story is that he was driving home at the time of the attack.”

           “So he was two places at once.” Dakota said.

           “Exactly! Then he sees himself in the house. The cops think he’s a nut job.” Dean finished.

           “Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way.” Sam said.

           “Maybe it’s the same thing doing it too.” Dakota guessed.

           “Shape-shifter?” Sam asked.

           “Every culture in the world has a shape-shifter lore. Something that can transform it’s self into other animals or men.” Dean told them.

           “Right. Skinwalkers, Werewolves.” Sam listed.

           “Two attacks within blocks of each other, I think we might have a shape-shifter problem.” Dakota said.

           “In all this shape-shifter lore, can any of them fly?” Sam asked looking at the back of the building.

           “Not that I know of.” Dean said.

           “Kota and I picked up a trail here, but it disappears.” Sam said.

           “Just like your friend’s house.” Said Dean. “Well, there is another way to go. Down.” Dean said as he pointed to the ground. Sam and Kota looked at down and saw that there was a storm drain. They opened the cover to the storm sewer and climbed down. They got down and looked at the two directions they could go.

           “I bet this runs right by Zack’s house.” Sam said.

           “The shape-shifter could be using the sewers to get around.” Dakota pointed out.

           “I think you’re right.” Dean said from further down the tunnel. They walked down and found goop covering the floor of the tunnel. Dean pulled out a switch blade and lifted some of the goo up.

           “Is this from his victims?” Sam asked in a disgusted voice.

           “I just had a sick thought. Maybe when the shape-shifter shifts shapes it sheds.” Dakota said and Dean immediately dropped the goop he was holding up with his knife.

           “That is sick.” Sam said sounding like he might be sick. They climbed out of the sewer and went to the Impala to grab something that would work against a shape-shifter. Dean popped open the trunk and grabbed a shot gun to hold it up.

           “One thing I learned from Dad, no matter what kind of shape-shifter it is, there is one surefire way to kill it.” Dean said loading a gun.

           “Silver bullet to the heart.” Dakota answered.

           “That’s right.” He said and he smiled at Dakota. Sam stepped away to answer his ringing phone. They heard Sam on the phone with Becky saying she had found out that Kota and Dean weren’t really cops. As he hung up Sam leaned on the side of the Impala. Dean and Dakota rounded the car to talk to him.

           “I hate to say it, but that’s exactly what I’m talking about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you they’d be freaked. Like it or not, we are not like other people. But I’ll tell you one thing, this whole gig, it ain’t without perks.” Dean said holding a gun loaded with silver for Sam.

           “If I get into a fight with my friends do I get to have all my weapons preloaded and handed to me?” Dakota teased. Dean just made a face at her and she stuck her tongue out and climbed into the car.


	12. Skin Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Mary" by The Death Riders

The Winchesters were walking through the storm sewer again, this time with flashlight and guns, looking for the creature or it’s lair. They had gone further and further into the tunnels, but had had no luck.  
“I think we’re getting closer.” Dean said from behind Dakota.  
“Why do you say that?” Sam asked from in front of her.  
“Because there’s another puke inducing pile next to Dakota’s face.” Dean answered. Dakota swung her head to look at the pipes next to her, then jumped back when she realized her brother was telling the truth.  
“Oh God.” Sam said and Dakota and Dean followed Sam’s gaze to another pile of goop in the corner of the tunnel.  
“Looks like he’s been living here for a while.” Kota said.  
“How many murders has he gotten away with?” Sam asked rhetorically. Sam turned back to look at them and his eyes got wide.  
“Kota! Dean!” He screamed. The shifter hit Dean, sending him flying into the wall while Dakota and Sam shot at the monster, but with so many pipes in the way, they missed. Dakota and Sam went to help Dean up, but he stopped them.  
“Get the son of a bitch!” he said and Sam took off after it while Dakota help Dean hobble along. They followed Sam down one of the tunnels to another storm drain cover that was already open and climbed out. They looked around the park that they had climbed up in the middle of, but saw no sign of the monster.  
“Okay, let’s split up. Kota and I go left, you go right.” Sam said.  
“Okay. I’ll meet you guys around the other side.” Dean agreed and they took off running.  
After a bit off running Dakota pointed out, “Wait, if he’s a shape-shifter how do we know he still looks like that Alex guy? Maybe he changed his form?”  
“I don’t think he has time to stop and shed in the middle of a chase!” Sam said sassily.  
They ran around for a while longer until they made it to the spot where they were supposed to meet Dean.  
“Hey! Anything?” Dean asked running up to them.  
“No. He’s gone.” Sam said.  
“Alright. Let’s get back to the car.” Dean suggested.  
“So you think he found another way underground?” Sam asked.  
“I don’t know. Maybe. You got the keys Dakota?”  
“Yeah.” She said and reached into the jacket of her jean jacket then stopped. Something seemed off about Dean. “Hey, didn’t Dad face a shape-shifter in San Antonio?” Dakota asked already knowing the answer, but testing Dean.  
“No. It was Austin. And it wasn’t a shifter it was a thought-form, a psychic projection. Remember?” Dean answered.  
“Oh, right.” She said once he answered correctly. “Here you go.” And she tossed him the keys and watched as he caught them with the arm that had been injured during the fight in the sewer. She looked over at Sam and saw that he noticed it too. No words were spoken between them and yet they knew exactly what the other wanted them to do, perks of being twins. They pulled out their guns and went to opposite sides of the trunk and pointed their guns at the fake Dean.  
“Don’t move!” Sam ordered.  
“What have you done with him?” Dakota asked.  
“Guy. Chill. It’s me alright.” The fake Dean said.  
“No, I don’t think so. Where’s our brother?” Sam asked.  
“You’re about to shoot him! Calm down.” the fake Dean said in the same teasing tone the real Dean used.  
“You caught those keys with your left. Your shoulder was hurt.” Dakota pointed out.  
“Yeah, it’s better. What do you want me to do? Cry?” the fake Dean asked turning to face her.  
“You’re not our brother.” She said.  
“Why don’t you two pull the trigger then. Common. You guys know me.” Said the fake Dean. He took a step closer to Sam.  
“Don’t.” Sam warned him. The fake Dean lunged and knocked the gun out of Sam’s hand then grabbing a crowbar from the trunk and hitting Sam in the head with it. As soon as the monster attacked Sam, Dakota went to shoot it, but couldn’t get a clean shot. Once Sam hit the ground it turned around to face her and she pulled the trigger, hitting it in the shoulder, but not killing it. The last thing Dakota saw before it all went dark was Dean raising the crowbar to hit her.  
……….  
Dakota came to a little while later with a killer headache. She noticed that they were back in the sewer and that she was tied up. She looked at the pipe to the right of her and saw her twin was tied up to, but he was still passed out.  
“Sam.” She said in a harsh whisper and she saw him begin to stir. She heard the footsteps of the monster approaching and stopped talking. The shifter walked in holding more rope and saw she was awake. He walked over to her and back handed her hard across the face, splitting her lip. The noise seemed to wake Sam up who began looking around confused.  
“Where’s Dean?” Sam asked the creature.  
“I wouldn’t worry about him. I’d worry about you two.” The shifter said. Dakota rolled her eyes at the cliché back guy line.  
“Where is he?” She snapped. The creature wearing her brother’s face looked at her.  
“You don’t want to know.” He said with an evil smile. “I swear, the more I learn about you and your family. I thought I came from a bad background.” The monster said walking away from them to load up a duffle bag with various weapons.  
“What do you mean, learn?” Sam asked it. The shifter closed it’s eyes and put it’s hand to it’s forehead. Sam and Dakota shared a confused look. The fake Dean stopped then looked at them.  
“He sure has issues with you.” It said to Sam, “You got to go to college and he had to stay home and look after his baby sister. I mean, I had to stay home. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the Hell were you?” He sneered then turned to Dakota, “And don’t even get me started on you…” It started before she cut him off.  
“Where’s our brother?” She asked and the monster leaned down to look her in the face.  
“I am your brother.” Said the shifter. “See deep down, I’m just jealous. You and Sam have friends, you could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak and sooner or later everyone is going to leave me.”  
“What do you mean?” Sam asked. The fake Dean turned to look at Sam  
“You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked and he still ditched me too.” He said, then turned back to Dakota, “No explanation, no nothing, just vanished and left me with your sorry ass. But still this job, it’s not without it’s perks. I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. Ya know Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let’s see what happens.” The shifter grabbed it’s duffle bag and left Sam and Dakota tied to the pipes. They waited until they could no longer hear it’s footsteps before struggling against the ropes. They heard coughs coming from behind them.  
“That better be you two and not that freak of nature.” Dean’s voice said and Dakota smiled.  
“Yeah, it’s us.” Dakota confirmed.  
“He went back to Rebecca’s, looking like you.” Sam explained.  
“Well, he’s not stupid. He picked the handsome one.” Dean said and Sam whipped his head around to try to see his brother while Dakota just laughed. “Hang on, I think I can get out of these ropes.”  
“The thing is, he didn’t just look like you, he was you.” Dakota said out loud, voicing her thoughts on what had just happened.  
“Or he was becoming you.” Sam said.  
“What do you mean?” Dean asked.  
“I don’t know, it’s like he was downloading your thoughts and memories.” Sam explained.  
“You mean like the Vulcan mind meld?” Dean asked.  
“Yes, exactly.” Dakota said.  
“Maybe that’s why he doesn’t just kill us. Maybe he needs to keep us alive. Psychic connection.” Dean said and as he showed up in front of Dakota to untie her. “I’m just going to get your hands. You got the rest?” He asked and she nodded. Dean quickly freed her hands and moved onto Sam. Dakota began getting the ropes around her middle and her feet off.  
“Common, we gotta go. He’s probably at Rebecca’s already.” Sam said. As soon as all three of them were untied they took off down the tunnel looking for a sewer cover to climb out of.  
“We’ve got to find a phone.” Sam said. Once they were out.  
“What? Are you stupid?” Dakota asked.  
“What?” Sam asked not realizing his mistake.  
“You’re going to put an APB on me.” Dean said.  
“Sorry man.” Sam said  
“Common. This way.” Dean motioned them down the alley they were in. They ran to find a phone. They called to police and waited around for some kind of sign that this was all over. They found an electronic store that had TVs in the front one of which was playing a news segment about a man hunt in progress. The news station released a sketch of the subject, who Dakota clearly recognized as Dean. Sam and Dakota started looking around to make sure no one had spotted their brother.  
“Man, that’s not even a good picture.” Dean complained.  
“Really?” Dakota asked him.  
“It’s good enough.” Sam said leading them into an alley and away from anyone who could recognize Dean. Dakota noticed Dean was till pouting over his photo.  
“They said attempt at murder, so at least she’s alive.” Dakota said.  
“We’ll check on her in the morning.” Sam said.  
“Okay, but first I want to find that handsome devil and kill the crap outta him!” Dean said angrily.  
“We have no weapons, no silver bullets!” Sam said.  
“Sam, the guy is wearing my face. It’s a little personal! I want to find him.” Dean snapped.  
“The police know what you look like, he’s probably changed his face.” Dakota pointed out, “What do you want to do?”  
“We could search the sewers.” Dean said,  
“We have no weapons.” Sam reemphasized.  
“Where’s the car?” Dakota asked.  
“I bet he drove over there. The police said he left on foot it could still be there.” Sam said.  
Dean looked furious and growled, “The thought of him driving my car. It’s killing me.” They began the two-mile trek to Rebecca’s parent’s house. Sure enough they found the Impala parked a few blocks away from the house.  
“There she is!” Dean exclaimed happily. “Finally, something is going right tonight.” As soon as the words left his mouth police sirens sounded and several cars pulled out from hiding places.  
“Dude, you jinxed it.” Dakota told Dean.  
“Not now!” He said as they started running. Every corner they rounded had a new cop car ready to catch them. They came to a fence that was surrounding one someone’s backyard.  
“You guys go! I’ll hold them!” Sam said. Dakota opened her mouth to argue, but Mr. pre-Law Sammy reminded her, “They can’t hold me! You guys go! Meet me at Rebecca’s! Don’t go in the sewers by yourselves without weapons!” Dakota and Dean turned to the fence and scampered over it, running from backyard to backyard.  
……….  
A few hours later Dean and Dakota were both sitting around by the car, waiting for Sam to show up.  
“Where are you going?” She asked.  
“Look, we’ve got the car, we’ve got weapons, I’m going to go find this thing and end it! You coming or not?” He asked.  
“This is a terrible idea, of course I’m coming!” She said and they went to grab their guns and search the sewers.  
Dakota was getting really tired of climbing through storm sewers. She and Dean had their guns and flashlights out and were searching for the creature’s lair, again. They found what might be considered a bedroom, a section of the tunnel hidden behind the pipes was covered in candles and had a small heap of blankets. Dakota began looking at all the different object lying around when a thud sounded from around the corner. Dean and Dakota raised their weapons and started walking towards the noise. They walked over to a lump covered under a blanket and when they pulled it off they found a girl underneath.  
“Becca?” Dakota asked in shock. “What happened?”  
Becca explained how she was kidnapped on her way home and saw the shifter turn into her, while Dean untied her.  
“Common, we gotta hurry. Sam went to see you.” Dean said helping Becky off the ground. They went in front and Dakota covered them from behind in case the shifter showed back up while they made their escape.  
Rebecca, Dean, and Dakota made it back to Rebecca’s house just in time to see that the shifter, who had tuned back into Dean, had Sam pinned to the ground and was chocking him. Dean pulled out his gun, and aimed it at the shifter. Dakota went to grab hers, but decided against it, this was Dean’s kill, it was too personal.  
Dean shot the shifter straight in the heart. The moment the shifter went down, Dakota ran to Sam, who was laying bloody and beaten on the ground, looking for any broken bones or cuts that might require stiches. Dakota and Sam watched as Dean walked over to the shifter’s body and took back the necklace the creature must have taken earlier.  
……….  
Dakota was sitting on the hood of the Impala while Dean was looking over a map, trying to find their next job. Sam and Rebecca were standing in her doorway talking. Dakota watched as they hugged each other, then Becky turned and waved at her and Dean, and they waved back. As Rebecca went back inside, Sam started making his way over o his siblings.  
“So, what’s going to happen to your friend Zack?” Dakota asked sliding off the hood and walking towards the back door of the car.  
“Cops are blaming this Dean Winchester guy. They’re blaming him for Emily’s murder. They found the murder weapon in his lair, Zack’s clothes stained with Emily’s blood. Now they think the security footage was tampered with. Zack should be released soon.” Sam said.  
“Wow, this Dean Winchester guys sounds terrible!” Dakota said. Dean just glared at her and got in the car followed by Sam and Dakota.


	13. Hook Man Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Supercharged" by Skemmin' No Goods

Dean and Dakota were sitting at a small coffee shop having breakfast and waiting for Sam to get off the phone. Kota was scarfing down a chocolate croissant and sipping her coffee in between bites.

           “Your half-frap, double cap, vanilla latte is getting cold over hear Francis.” Dean called teasingly to Sam as he walked over to join them.

           “Bite me! And besides, I’m sure Kota is drinking something ridiculously girly.” Sam snapped.

           “Nope. I like my coffee black, like my eyes and soul.” Dakota said taking a sip from her mug. Her brothers just stared at her for a moment then returned to their conversation.

           “So how’d it go?” Dean asked.

           “I got nothing. I had them check the FBI’s missing person database, no John Doe’s matching Dad’s description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations.” Sam said.

           “Sam, I’m telling ya, I don’t think Dad wants to be found.” Dean said. Then he turned Sam’s laptop to face Sam and Dakota who were sitting next to each other and said, “Check it out, I got it off an article from Ankeny, Iowa, that’s only about 100 miles from here.”

           “‘A mutilated body was found by a car, blah, blah, blah, authorities could not give a realistic description since the sole witness said the attacker was invisible.’ Could be something.” Dakota said.

           “Or it could be nothing, one freaked out witness who didn’t see anything doesn’t mean it’s the invisible man.” Sam pointed out.

           “But what if it is? Dad would check it out.” Dean said.

……….

The Impala was speeding down the highway towards Ankeny, Iowa. They pulled up in front of a fraternity house and stopped the car. Dakota started to get out of the car, but was stopped by both her brothers.

           “Wow, wow, wow, wait!” Sam said.

           “What?” Dakota asked.

           “You aren’t going in there. No way I’m letting a bunch of college guys around my baby sister!” Dean said, looking like he already wanted to beat some of the frat boys just on principle. Dakota rolled her eyes.

           “Really? You’re really not going to let me do my job because there are boys around who might stare and flirt with me?” She snapped.

           “Yeah.” Her brother’s answered in unison.

           “I let girls flirt with you all the time!” Dakota whined.

           “No you don’t, I can see you glaring at them every time. And that’s different. Sam and I are older and as the oldest brother, I’m saying you’re staying in the car.” Dean told her and he and Sam got out and walked to the frat house, leaving a very pissed off Dakota in the backseat. She waited until her brothers were in the frat house before she slipped out of her jean jacket and flannel, leaving her in a tank top, ripped skinny jeans, a few pieces of jewelry, and converse, then she fluffed her long, dark blond hair and went to question some of the boys on the front lawn.

She hated using her body like this to get information, like she was nothing more than a pretty face when she was really an incredible hunter and had had perfect grades nearly all her life. Unfortunately, men didn’t seem to care about that and were more likely to talk to the pretty blond then the real Dakota.

           “Hi.” She said sweetly walking up to a group of guys working on their car. They all looked up at her and smiled.

           “Hello sweetie, I’m Alex. Who might you be?” the boy, apparently Alex, said.

Dakota forced a giggle, but internally rolled her eyes at the poor attempt at flirting and said, “I’m Taylor,” she said, giving a fake name, “and I’m in a journalism class at the local community college. I wanted to ask you guys some questions about the murder that happened. Do you know what happened?” She asked batting her eyelashes over her big, green eyes.

The boys looked down sadly before Alex answered, “The cops are saying some psycho with a knife or a drifter passing through. Rich was a good guy.”

           “Was he with anyone during the attack?” Dakota asked.

           “Not just anyone, Lori Sorenson. She’s a freshman, super hot!” Said one of the other guys.

           “But not nearly as hot as you baby.” Alex flirted.

           “Oh, bless your heart. Well, I think that’s all I need. Thank you boys.” Dakota said giving a cute little wave and walking away.

She got back to the car just as her brothers exited the house and she rushed to throw all her layers back on and pulled her head phones out to make it appear she had been in the back seat listening to music the whole time.

           “Hey guys, what did you find out?” She asked once they got in the car.

           “This Rich guys was dating a Reverend’s daughter named Lori. We’re going to go check out the church.” Sam said.

           “Okay.” Dakota said. “Sam, is that paint on your hands?” She asked and Dean started laughing while Sam just glared at him. Dakota made a mental note to ask Dean what she had missed later.

……….

The Winchesters got to the church and went into the chapel where a mass was being held. They tried to get in as quietly as possible, but the wind caught the door and slammed it shut causing everyone in the church to turn around and look at them. The Reverend continued with his sermon as Sam, Dean, and Dakota sat in the back pew. Dakota had never been a really religious person, but she did pray on occasion when things got tough. When she was younger, she used to pray to her mom to try and find comfort and have some kind of connection to her.  

After mass was over, they went up to several people asking for Lori until they were pointed in the direction of a young woman with shoulder length light brown hair.

           “Hi, my name is Dakota. These are my brother’s Sam and Dean. We just transferred here to the university, we didn’t want to bother you, but we heard about what happened…”

           “We just wanted to say how sorry we were.” Dean said cutting off Dakota.

           “I kinda know what you’re going through. I saw…someone…get hurt. It’ something you don’t forget.” Sam said trailing off and Dakota shot him a concerned look. She could tell Sam wasn’t getting any better, the nightmares hadn’t stopped and she could just feel this cloud of sadness around him. Being in touch with other people’s feeling was becoming a more and more common occurrence, but with everything going on right now, she didn’t want to bring it up with her brothers. The Reverend came up to his daughter and wrapped an arm around her shoulders snapping Dakota out of her thoughts.

           “Hi Dad. This is Sam, Dean, and Dakota.” She introduced.

           “Pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say that was an inspiring sermon.” Dean said and Dakota resisted the urge to burst out laughing.

           “Thank you. It’s so hard to find young people who are open to the Lord’s message.” The Reverend said.

           “Ya know Reverend, we’re knew in town and we’re looking for a new church group to join. Do you have any?” Dakota asked drawing the Reverend away from Lori and Sam so he could question her. Dean followed Dakota lead.

           “Yeah, we were really involved in our old church, St. Edward’s in Ohio and we really want to build a sense of community here.” Dean added on.

           “Oh, well we have a young adult and an adult group that meet here once a week each. If you’re interested, you can come by my office later.” The Reverend answered.

“That would be wonderful. Thank you.” Dakota said and she and Dean walked over to the Impala to wait for Sam.

……….

Sam, Dean, and Dakota went to the library after they finished at the church to see if there was any legend of an invisible man in the town before this.

           “So, you believe her?” Dean asked Sam as he told them Lori’s story.

           “I do.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, I think she’s hot too.” Dean teased.

           “Oh my God. Could you please keep it in your pants and focus on the job!” Dakota sassed. Dean smacked her head and kept walking through the rows of books.

           “No man. There was something in her eyes. And get this, she heard scratching on the roof and then found the body suspended above the car, upside down.” Sam said.

           “Wait, what?” Dakota questioned.

           “That sounds like the Hook Man legend. That’s one of the most famous urban legends ever.” Dean said.

           “You don’t think we’re dealing with _The_ Hook Man?” Dakota asked.

           “Every urban legend has a place where it all began.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches, and the tire punctures, and the invisible killer?” Dean asked recalling Amy’s story.

           “Maybe the Hook Man isn’t a man. Maybe he’s a spirit.” Dakota suggested.

They got the town’s arrested records going back to 1851 looking for anything matching the Hook Man legend. The librarian gave them three huge, dusty boxes of records and let them get to work.

           “So this is how you spent four good years of your life?” Dean asked Sam.

           “Welcome to higher education.” Sam said.

           “I don’t think I like it.” Dakota said opening her box.

Dakota was twirling her necklace around her fingers as she read her box of files. Other than the friendship bracelet she had with Jo, this necklace was the only other piece of jewelry she consistently wore. It was a simple silver chain, but it had her mother’s engagement ring on it. Her dad had given it to her for her 16th birthday and she had treasured it ever since. It had become a habit of Dakota’s to mess with the necklace while she was reading, for a case, school, or for fun.

           Several hours, one coffee run, and a couple hundred files later they hadn’t had much luck. Then Sam called them over to where he was now standing and said, “Hey, come check this out. 1862 a preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. He was so angry about the red-light district in town that one night he killed 13 prostitutes.”

           “Okay, that sounds more Jack the Ripper than the Hook Man.” Dakota pointed out.

           “Here, ‘some of the victims were found dead in their beds, the sheets soaked in blood, others were found suspended from tree as a warning to others about the danger of sin’” Sam read from the file.

           “Get this,” Dean said pulling out a sketch of the preacher, “the murder weapon. Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident, had it replaced with a hook.” Dean said.

           “Okay, now this sounds like the Hook Man.” Dakota said, retracting her earlier statement. And look, it happened on nine-mile-road. That’s where the frat boy was killed!” Sam said

           “Nice job, Dr. Vankman.” Dean said and Dakota laughed. “Let’s check it out.”

……….

The Impala pulled up on nine-mile-road and all three Winchesters got out. Dean went to the trunk and grabbed the shotguns. He handed one to Dakota who immediately started loading it, then he handed one to Sam.

           “If it is a spirit, buck shot won’t do much good.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, rock salt.” Dean explained handing Sam a few rounds. “It won’t kill them, but it will slow them down.”

           “Nice. You two and Dad come up with this?” Sam asked.

           “Actually, it was all Dean’s idea.” Dakota said.

           “I told you Sammy, you don’t need to be a college graduate to be a genius.” Dean gloated.

They heard a few twigs snap and Sam raised his gun in that direction while Dean and Dakota stayed dead still and silent, listening for signs that it was someone coming. An officer burst out of the trees and yelled at them to put the guns down, put their hands on their heads, and get down. Not wanting to argue with the person with the gun on her, Dakota quickly followed his orders.


	14. Hook Man Part 2

Down at the Calumet County Sheriff’s Department, Dakota was explaining to the officer that had arrested them that Dean was a member of the fraternity and Sam was a new pledge. Dean was in charge of hazing Sam and since she was Dean’s girlfriend, he had asked her to go with him. The sheriff bought her story and let her brothers go.

           “I saved y’all’s asses. I talked the sheriff down to a fine. I freaking Matlock.” Dakota exclaimed. The doors to the sheriff’s department burst open and six officers poured out. “Okay, I might have said that too soon.” Dakota muttered. The officers climbed into their police cars and took off down the street, lights and sirens blazing. The Winchesters climbed into the Impala and followed the cars to the sorority that Lori was part of. They drove by slowly and saw that Lori was sitting in the back of an ambulance with a shock blanket wrapped around her before continuing driving. They parked at the back of the sorority house where there were no cops and entered the crime scene through the back.

           “Why would the Hook Man of come here? This is a long way from nine-mile-road.” Sam whispered.

           “Maybe he’s not haunting his scene of the crime. Maybe it’s about something else.” Dean said. A few girls walked out of the side door then in their pajamas.

           “Dude, sorority girl! Think we’ll see a naked pillow fight?” Dean asked Sam who was currently trying to climb through a second story window.

           “Dean, you are a disgusting pig!” Dakota said glaring at her brother as he went to lift Sam up, then Dakota. Once they were in Sam turned and helped Dean up. They entered Lori and her, now dead, roommate Taylor’s room and found one of the beds soaked in blood. Above it, craved into the wall, was, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light” followed by a strange symbol.

           “That’s right out of the legend!” Sam said after reading the writing on the wall.

           “Smell, that? Definitely a spirit.” Dean said.

           “I’ve never smelled ozone this strong before.” Dakota said. “Does that symbol look familiar to you guys?” she asked refereeing to the image craved into the wall.

           “We’ll find out later, the police are coming back in. We gotta go.” Dean said. The Winchester scrambled back out of the window and walked to the Impala were all the files about Rev. Karns were. Dakota and Dean waited in the hood of the car while Sam grabbed the file.

           “Check this out,” He said handing them a drawing of the hook the pastor had used, “it’s the same symbol. Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns.” Sam handed the papers to Dakota.

           “Alright, well let’s find the dude’s grave, salt ‘n burn the bones, and put him down.” Dean said.

           “‘After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in Old North Cemetery in an unmarked grave’.” Dakota read from the file then sighed. This was going to make their job ten times harder.

           “Super.” Said Dean in a sarcastic voice.

           “Okay, so we know it’s Jacob Karns, but we still don’t know where he’ll manifest next. Or why.” Sam said.

           “I think I know why. I think your little friend Lori has something to do about this.” Dean suggested.

……….

That night Sam went to the library to do some research while Dean and Dakota went to a party at one of the fraternity houses. Dakota hadn’t seen her brother in a while, not that she minded, she had had a few Jell-O shots, not enough to get her more than tipsy since they were technically still on the job, and was currently dancing with a really cute boy who had introduced himself as Jimmy. Dakota didn’t get a chance to see many boys since she was always with one of her brothers or her dad and they were all extremely over protective of the only girl in the family. Kota decided that wasn’t going to stop her tonight, she was going to dance with this Jimmy guy and have a bit of fun for once. After a few songs, Jimmy was ripped off of her. When Dakota looked to see who had stolen her dance partner, she was met with a very pissed off Dean.

           “Oh…hi.” Kota said.

           “Yeah, hi. What the Hell are you doing!?” Dean yelled.

           “Having fun!” Dakota answered.

           “You can have fun later. Sam’s here.” Dean said grabbing her by the elbow and dragging her away. Normally Dakota would throw a few punches at him and tell him to leave her alone or that he was being a sexist bastard for treating her like some little girl who can’t take care of herself, but they really did need to talk to Sam.

           “Man, this college thing is awesome! I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me!” Dean said to Sam once they found him.

           “This wasn’t really my experience.” Sam confused.

           “Yeah, let me guess. Library, studying, straight A’s.” Dean said and Sam nodded.

           “College was wasted on you!” Dakota teased.

           “Did you do your homework?” Dean asked.

           “Yeah, so I was looking for how the Hook Man was tied up with Lori and I think I found something.” Sam said pulling out some papers he had in his back pocket. A tray of Jell-O shots went by them and Dakota grabbed two before turning her attention back to Sam. “1932 some clergy men were arrested for murder. 1961 Seminarian held a hippie rampage. There’s a pattern here. In both case they were men of religion who openly preached against immorality and then found himself blamed for killings he says were the works of an invisible man.”

           “So, what’s the connection to Lori?” Dakota asked throwing back a shot.

           “A man of religion, who openly preaches about immorality.” Sam said and Dakota and Dean nodded remembering that Lori’s father was the pastor. “Maybe this time instead of trying to save the whole town, he’s trying to save his only daughter.”

           “You think he’s summoning the spirit?” Dean asked.

           “Maybe. Or, ya know how a poltergeist can haunt a person instead of a place.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, the poltergeist is summoned, latches on to the Reverend’s repressed emotion. Without the Reverend ever even knowing it.” Dakota said.

           “Hey, you should keep an eye on Lori tonight.” Dean told Sam.

           “Okay, what about you two.” Sam asked and Dakota watched as Dean stared longingly at the party then sighed.

           “We’re going to go find that unmarked grave.” Dean pouted.

           “We are? But…they have Jell-O shots and pool and dancing!” Dakota whined.

           “Common Baby Girl, we got a job to do.” Dean said leading them off of the house.

……….

Dean and Dakota had their flashlights, shovels, salt, and gasoline, and were searching Old North Cemetery for an unmarked grave. Luckily the graveyard was fairly small, not so luckily they had been there for a while and had yet to find the grave. Some brushes rustled and a twig snapped behind them and the siblings froze. They waited a moment, but didn’t see or hear anything so they continued their search.

           “Here we go.” Dean said as his flashlight finally landed on a grave with no name, just the symbol the Hook Man uses on it. Dean and Dakota pulled off their jackets and flannels and started digging. A few long, sweaty, dirty hours later, they hit a pine box.

           “That’s it! Next time, I get to watch the cute girls house!” Dean complained.

           “Or, you two could not hit on the girl and I’ll watch her in a way that doesn’t seem like I’m stalking her!” Dakota sassed.

           “Shut up, Squirt.” Dean said. They climbed out of the grave, Dakota grabbed the salt while Dean poured the gasoline over the bones.

Dean lite a match and threw it into the grave saying, “Goodbye, Preacher.”

Dean’s phone started ringing. He had a quick conversation with the person on the other end before hanging up.

           “We gotta go. The Hook Man showed up at Lori’s house and attacked her dad. He’s in intensive care and Sam is with them. Let’s go!” He said and they ran to the Impala and sped towards the hospital. When they got there they went up to the ICU, but were stopped by two officers. Sam walked into the hallway then and they tried to get his attention.

           “No, it’s okay. That’s my brother. Hey, brother!” Dean called to him. The officer talking to Sam told the other cops to let them through.

           “Hey are you alright?” Kota asked Sam once they were able to talk in private.

           “Yeah, I’m fine. Why the Hell didn’t you guys torch the bones?” Sam asked angrily.

           “What are you talking about? We did!” Dean answered.

           “Are you sure it’s the spirit of Jacob Karns?” Dakota checked with Sam.

           “Well it sure looked like him. And another thing, I don’t think the spirit is latching on to the Reverend.” Sam said.

           “Well yeah! The guy wouldn’t send Hook Man after himself!” Dean stated the obvious.

           “I think it’s latching on to Lori. Last night she found out that her father was having an affair with a married woman!” Sam told them.

           “So what?” Dean asked.

           “So, she probably upset about it, Jackass!” Dakota snapped.

           “She’s upset about the immorality of it. She told me she was raised to believe that if you do something bad, you should be punished!” Sam said.

           “Okay, so she’s conflicted. And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching onto her repressed emotions and doing the punishing for her, huh?” Dean suggested.

           “Right, Rich comes on too strong, Taylor tries to turn her into a party girl, Dad has an affair.” Dakota said.

           “Remind me not to piss this girl off.” Dean joked. “But we burned the bones and buried them in salt, that should have stopped him.”

           “You guys must have missed something.” Sm said.

           “No. We burned everything in that coffin.” Dean said confidently.

           “Well…we didn’t get the hook.” Dakota pointed out.

           “The hook?” Dean asked.

           “It was the murder weapon and in a way it was part of him.” Sam said.

           “So the hook is the source of his power. So if we find the hook…” Dean said

           “We stop the Hook Man!” Dean and Sam said together.

……….

They went back to the library to try and trace were the hook might have gone after Jacob Karns was executed.

           “Here’s something…I think.” Dakota said taking the pen cap she had been chewing out of her mouth. “Log book, Iowa State Penitentiary. ‘Karns, Jacob person affects: upon execution all personal affects shall be remanded to the prisoner’s house of worship, St. Barnabas church.’” Dakota read.

           “Isn’t that where Lori’s father preaches.” Sam asked.

           “Yeah, it is.” Dean replied. “Maybe that’s why the Hook Man has been hunting Reverends and Reverend’s daughters for the past 200 years.”

           “Yeah, but if the hook was at the church or Lori’s house, don’t you think someone would have seen it? I mean, a blood stained, silver handled hook?” Sam asked.

           “Check the church records.” Dean said and stood up from the table to grab the books they needed. After searching through several dusty books they came across something useful.

           “‘St. Barnabas donations 1862 received: silver hook from state penitentiary. Re-forged.’ They melted it down and made it into something else.” Sam read from one of the books and all three groaned. This was worse than the unmarked grave in Dakota’s opinion.

……….

They left the library and pulled up to St. Barnabas church as soon as they could. Next door to the church was Lori’s house, which they also needed to search.

           “Alright, we can’t take any chances. Anything silver goes in the fire.” Dean said grabbing the duffle bags and handing them out.

           “I agree.” Dakota said.

           “Lori’s still at the hospital so we’ll have to break in.” Sam pointed out.

           “Alright, take your pick.” Dean said.

           “I’ll take the house.” Sam said.

           “I’d go with you, but I don’t really need to watch you snoop through that poor girl’s things. I’ll stick with Dean for this one.” Dakota said. Sam glared at her then walked away.

           “Yeah, stay out of her underwear drawer!” Dean yelled to Sam’s now retreating figure.

Once they got into the church they went into the basement, where there was luckily a fireplace. They lit the fire and threw salt into it then grabbed everything silver and threw that in too. Sam came down the stairs a few minutes later with a bag of all the silver from Lori’s house.

           “I grabbed everything that even looked silver.” Sam said dumping the contents.

           “Better safe than sorry.” Dean agreed. Just then the planks above their heads started creaking and dust feel down on them.

           “Shit.” Dakota whispered.

           “Move.” Dean whispered pushing Sam and Kota out of his way so he could go up the stairs first. They walked up quietly, rock salt guns drawn, and found Lori crying and praying in one of the pews. Dean nodded for Sam to take care of it and he and Dakota slipped back down stairs to finish melting everything. Dakota began humming as she gathered more silver to burn.

           “Are you actually singing as you destroy church property?” Dean asked.

           “Technically I’m humming.” Dakota answered. Dean smiled proudly at her.

There were several large bangs and crashing noises coming from upstairs. Dean and Dakota grabbed their guns and took off towards the noise. They found Lori and Sam getting attacked by the Hook Man. Sam was standing behind the spirit so they didn’t have a clear shot.

           “Sam! Drop!” Dakota yelled and as soon as he was clear she shot the Hook Man in the back causing him to dissipate.

           “I thought see got all the silver!” Sam said.

           “So did I!” Dean yelled.

           “Well we obviously missed something!” Dakota snapped.

Sam looked at Lori and asked, “Lori where did you get that chain?” Dakota hadn’t even noticed the girl had been wearing a necklace, but now that she did she could see that it was silver.

           “Where did your dad get it?” Dean asked.

           “He said it was a church heirloom.” She said.

           “Is it silver?” Dakota yelled her question.

           “Yes.” She answered and Sam ripped the necklace off the scared girl and ran off with it. Sam turned to throw it to his siblings then stared at something behind them. Dean and Dakota turned and saw nothing, but something was dragging what suspiciously looked like a hook along the wall.

           “Sam!” Dean yelled getting his brothers attention. Almost as if they had practiced, Dean tossed him the gun and Sam tossed him the necklace. “Dakota, cover me!” Dean commanded and the two took off down the hallway. Dean threw the necklace in the fire and Dakota and Dean watched as it melted away into nothing. Dakota ran back up the stairs to see if Sam and Lori were okay and saw that, other than a fairly nasty cut on Sam’s arm, they were both fine.

……….

Dakota was being questioned by a police officer along with her brothers and Lori. She calmly told the officer and man with a hook had attacked them, but they had fought him off and the man took off. The officers didn’t seem to believe her.

           “Listen, you and your brothers…” the officer started.

           “Oh, don’t worry. We’re leaving town.” Dakota said, having heard this speech many times. She went over to the Impala where Dean was already waiting.

           “So, how did your questioning go?” He asked.

           “Oh, ya know, ‘put this town in your rearview mirror and never come back.’ The usual.” Dakota said and Dean laughed. They waited for Sam to finish getting stiches from the paramedic and finish talking to Lori.

           “You think he’s going to go for it?” Dean asked.

           “No. I think it’s still too soon.” Dakota answered. They climbed into the Impala and Dakota walked up to the passenger seat, “Since he’s not here, I’m calling shotgun.” She informed Dean.

           “That’s not how this works!” Dean said.

           “Common! I haven’t been able to sit in front in months!” Dakota whined.

           “Fine! But only because you’re my favorite little sister.” Dean teased. Sam walked over to the car and went to open the passenger door.

           “Really? I’m injured and you’re making me sit in back?” Sam asked.

           “Please, Sammy! Just this once?” Dakota asked in a sweet voice and with her best puppy dog eyes. Sam sighed and climbed in the back.


	15. Bugs Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my favorite episode. I wouldn’t have written this if it didn’t have some important things about Dakota’s story line. I tried my hardest to make it tolerable.

Kota and Dean were at a bar hustling pool while Sam waited outside. Dakota was on her third beer and had already made $100. She lined up her shot and sunk it. All the men she was playing with groaned.

           “I won!” She exclaimed, putting on the façade that she had never won before.

           “You sure you’ve never played this game, baby doll?” One of the men asked as he handed her a few crumpled bills.

           “No. Never.” Dakota lied, she had been hustling pool since she was 14 and poker since she was 15. She saw that Dean had just finished his game so she went to meet him.

           “Good night?” Dean asked.

           “$170.” Dakota said.

           “Nice. I haven’t counted mine yet, but I’m thinking somewhere around $150.” Dean said

           “Great! Let’s go get Sam.” Kota said and they grabbed their beers and walked out. They found Sam sitting on the hood on the Impala with his back against the windshield.

           When he finally looked up from the paper he was reading he said, “Ya know we could get day jobs every once in a while.”

           “Hunting’s our day job and the pay is crap” Dean said.

           “And more often than not, our night job.” Dakota said taking a swig of her beer.

           “Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It’s not the most honest thing in the world” Sam asked.

           “You left out our hustling card games.” Dakota pointed out.

           “Yeah Sam, honest. Fun and easy.” Dean said holding his hands as scales. It made the “fun and easy” hand rise up above the other. “It’s no contest. Besides we’re good at it. It’s what we were raised to do.”

           “Yeah, well how we were raised was jacked!” Sam said.

           “Says you.” Dean said counting his money.

           “And me.” Said Dakota raising her hand.

           “Traitor.” Dean muttered at her under his breath, “We got a new gig or what?”

           “Maybe. Oasis Plains, Oklahoma, not far from here. Gas company employee, Dustin Burwash supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob.” Sam explained.

           “Sorry, once more, but in English.” Dakota said upon hearing the strange name.

           “Human mad cow disease.” Sam explained.

           “Mad cow…wasn’t that on Oprah?” Dean asked.

           “You watch Oprah?” Sam asked.

           “Yes, but only when he thinks everyone is asleep or he’s on his own.” Dakota answered. Dean stared at her in shock. “Dude, we’ve been sharing motel rooms for 22 years. And the last 2 and ½ years it’s been just us. You had to know I would figure it out!”

Dean stood there sputtering for a moment before turning back to Sam and saying, “So this guy eats a bad burger, how is that our kinda thing?”

           “Mad cow disease cause mass brain degeneration, it takes months, even years for the damage to appear. But this guy Dustin, sounds like his brain disintegrated in about half an hour or less.” Sam told them.

           “Okay, that’s weird.” Dakota said.

           “Now, it could be a disease, or it could be something much nastier.” Sam said.

           “Alright. Oklahoma.” Dean said and Dakota resisted the urge to break out into song when Dean said the state. “Man, work, work, work. No time to spend my money.” Dean said as they climbed in the car.

……….

The made it to Oasis Plains by midmorning the next day and immediately went to the gas and power company the victim had worked for. They met up with a man named Travis Wielder looking for more information.

           “Hi, are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?” Dean asked.

           “Dustin never mentioned nephews or a niece.” Travis said.

           “Really? Well he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest!” Dakota told him. Travis blushed under the compliment.

           “So, we wanted to ask you, what exactly happened out there?” Dean asked him.

Travis shrugged and said, “I’m not sure. He fell in the sink hole, I went to get some rope from the truck, by the time I got back…” He trailed off, looking away from them.

           “What did you see?” Dean asked.

           “Nothing. No wounds?” Sam asked.

           “Well, he was bleeding from his eyes, his ears, his nose, but that was about it.” Travis told them.

           “So, you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?” Dakota asked.

           “I don’t know. It’s what the doctors are saying.” Travis answered.

           “But if it was mad cow, he would have been acting strange before, stuff like loss of motor control, did you ever notice anything like that?” Sam asked him.

           “No. But, then again, if it wasn’t some disease then what the Hell was it?” Travis asked.

           “That’s a good question.” Dean said.

           “Do you think you could tell us where this happened?” Sam asked.

Travis pointed them in the direction of a new housing development called Oasis Springs Estates. They thanked Travis and drove towards the construction site. They found the sink hole in front of one of the houses with caution tape around it, which the siblings ignored completely.

           “What do you guys think?” Dean asked as they ducked under the tape.

           “I don’t know, but if that guy Travis was right, it all happened pretty fast.” Sam said.

           “So what, some kinda creature chewed on his brain.” Dean asked as they looked down the sink hole. Dakota shined her flashlight down, but there wasn’t much to see, just dirt, root, and a ten-foot-deep hole.

           “No. It sounds like this thing worked from the inside.” Sam answered Dean’s question.

           “Hm, looks like there’s only room for one. Should we flip a coin?” Dean said walking away.

           “What?” Dakota asked.

           “Dean, we have no idea what’s down there!” Sam exclaimed.

Dean grabbed some rope the construction crew had left and said, “I’ll go if you’re scared.”

           “Flip the damn coin.” Sam said as Dean put the rope down. While her brothers were fighting over who gets to go down in the hole, Dakota grabbed the rope Dean had left and tied it around her waist and started climbing down using the roots.

           “Dakota!” She heard a yell from above.

           “I’m down here.” She called back.

           “What the Hell are you doing!?” Dean yelled, she looked up and saw both her brothers a few feet above her with furious looks on their faces.

           “Well, while you two where fighting over who’s the chicken in the family I decided to do my job. I left the other end of the rope up there for you guys. Don’t drop me!” Kota snapped.

Dakota reached the bottom of the hole and looked around. At first it appeared that there was nothing down there until she noticed a few small, dead beetles by her feet. She didn’t recognize them, but figured anything is a clue at this point. She grabbed a few of the beetles and pulled the rope twice, signaling her brothers to pull her up. Once she was up, the Winchesters got into the Impala and Dakota told them what she had found.

Dakota knew a fair bit about beetles, well really all animals. She had always loved animals and had always been trying to bring them home as pets when she was younger. When she was four, she had found a frog in the road and had named it Kermit and brought it back to the motel. Her dad had gently explained to her that motels don’t let you keep pets and that they had to let Kermit go. Dakota didn’t speak to her dad for several days after that. When she was in high school, she was in all AP science classes, but biology was always her favorite.

           “So you find some beetles, in a hole, in the ground. That’s shocking, Kota.” Dean said sarcastically.

           “There were no tunnels, no tracks, no evidence of any kind of creature down there. And ya know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it’s usually dead meat…” Dakota explained before Sam cut her off.

           “How many did you find down there?” he asked.

           “10.” Dakota answered.

           “It would take way more to eat out some dude’s brain.” Dean commented.

           “Well, maybe there were more!” Dakota sassed.

           “We need more information of the area, the neighborhood, whether something like this has ever happened before.” Sam listed.

Dakota noticed an open house sign with balloons tied to it in front of one of the houses, she looked at the front seats and saw that Dean had noticed it too.

           “I know a good place to start.” Dean said, they passed another sign advertising that the open house had a barbeque and Dakota knew Dean was sold on going.

           “Let’s go talk to the locals.” Dean said.

           “And the free food’s got nothing to do with it.” Sam said.

           “Of course not, I’m a professional” Dean snapped and he pulled the car into a spot. They got out of the car and looked around the neighborhood.

           “Growing up in a place like this would freak me out.” Dean stated.

           “Why?” Sam asked.

           “Yeah, the manicured lawns, the ‘how was your day, honey’, I think I’d blow my brains out.” Dean said.

           “There’s nothing wrong with normal.” Sam defended.

           “I didn’t say there was, I just don’t think that normal is for me.” Dakota responded.

           “I’d take our family over normal any day.” Dean said.

           “If y’all don’t stop arguing all the time I’m gonna have to beat you.” Dakota threatened.

They walked up to the front door and were greeted by the realtor as soon as the knocked.

           “Welcome!” Said the man cheerfully

           “This the barbeque?” Dean asked.

           “Yes, it is. I’m Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are?” He asked shaking their hands.

           “I’m Dean, this is Sam and Dakota.” Dean introduced.

           “So you’re interested in Oasis Plains. Let me just say, we except home owners of any race, religion, color, or sexual ordination, and may I just say I think it’s great that you two adopted a teenage girl.”

Dakota eyes bugged out of her head and she screamed, “I’m 22!”

Sam was laughing and Dean had his mouth hanging open, “We’re siblings!”

           “Our dad is getting up there in years and we’re just looking for a place for him.” Sam lied.

           “Great, well seniors are welcome too. Common in.” Larry told them. He lead them straight to the backyard where a few dozen people were gathered with some barbeque food and some drinks.

           “So, you’re the developer?” Sam asked Larry.

           “18 months ago I was walking this valley with my survey team, there was nothing here. And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house, we’re the first family in Oasis Plains.” Larry told them before grabbing a blond woman who was deep in conversation with another couple. “This is my wife Joanie.” He introduced.

           “Hello. Very nice to meet you.” Joanie said shaking their hands.

           “Tell them how much you love the place, honey. Lie if you have to I need to sell some houses.” Larry joked in a stage whisper. “If you’ll all excuse me.”

           “Don’t let his salesmen routine scare you this really is a nice place to live.” Joanie said with a smile. A woman with her brown hair in a tight bun and a stiff blazer popped up behind Joanie seemingly out of nowhere.

           “Hi. I’m Linda Bloom, head of sales.” She said.

           “Linda was second to move in. She’s a very noisy neighbor.” Joanie joked before walking away. Linda let out a fake laugh.

           “She’s kidding of course. I take it you three are interested in becoming home owners. Well, let me just say that we except home owners of any race, religion, color, and sexual orientation.” Linda said with a big fake smile. Dakota threw her a bitch face and saw that her brothers were doing the same.

           “Right, I’m going to go talk to Larry. ‘Kay honey.” Dean said smacking Sam’s ass as he walked away. Then he turned back around, “Oh, and please keep an eye on our darling teenage daughter.” He said.

           “I’m going to grab some food. Do you want anything, _Dad_?” Dakota asked and Sam just glared at her. She walked over to the table are grabbed a hotdog and a soda, she was disappointed to not see Mr. Pibb, but found her second favorite soda, root beer.

Dakota walked back over to Sam and Linda in time to hear Linda say, “Who doesn’t need a steam shower? I use mine every day!”

           “Sounds great.” Sam said very disinterested. Dakota saw a medium sized tarantula crawling on the table straight towards Linda’s hand. Dakota quickly gathered it into her hand and Sam excused himself from the conversation. The looked around for the owner of the spider and saw a teenage boy who was hiding his smile behind his hand.

           “Is this yours?” Dakota asked handing the spider over.

            “You going to tell my dad?” The kid asked.

           “That depends, who’s your dad?” Sam asked.

           “Ah, yes. Larry usually skips me in the family introductions.” The kid told them.

           “Ouch! First name basis with the old man, sounds pretty grim.” Dakota said.

           “Well hang in there it gets better, I promise.” Sam told him.

           “When?” the kid asked.

           “Matthew!” Someone called from behind them and the kid perked up. Larry and Dean were walking over to them and Larry looked rather pissed.

           “I am so sorry about my son and his pet.” Larry said.

           “No problem, I love animals.” Dakota said.

           “Excuse us.” Larry said dragging Matthew away. Dean walked over to them.

           “Remind you of somebody?” Sam asked Dean. Dakota immediately knew where this was going.

           “Oh, please God. Not now.” She muttered under her breath.

Dean looked over at the father and son, then back at Sam with a confused expression. Sam explained, “Dad.”

           “Dad never treated us like that.” Dean said and Sam laughed. Dakota groaned, wanting desperately to walk away from the fight that was about to break out, but knowing she was probably about to have to jump between them to stop her brothers from throwing punches.

           “Well, Dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my and Dakota cases.” Sam said.

           “Oh no. Do not drag me into this!” Dakota snapped.

           “You don’t remember.” Sam said when Dean shook his head.

           “Well, maybe he had to raise his voice, but that’s cause you two were out of line.” Dean said and Sam laughed.

           “Right, like when I said I’d rather play soccer than learn bow hunting. Or whenever Dakota wanted to do anything remotely normal or girly.” Sam said and Dakota punched his arm.

           “I said, don’t bring me into this!” Dakota growled hitting Sam’s arm.

           “Bow hunting’s an important skill.” Dean said and Dakota and Sam rolled their eyes.

           “How was your tour?” Dakota asked Dean, changing the subject before voices or fist could be raised.

           “Oh, it was excellent, I’m ready to buy. We might be on to something. Looks like Dustin wasn’t the first strange death around here.” Dean told them.

           “What happened?” Sam asked.

           “About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry’s surveyors dropped dead on the job.  Severe allergic reaction to bee stings.” Dean explained. Dakota tensed slightly at the news; she had a severe allergy to bee stings and always carried her epi-pen with her, but the thought of so many bees around made her nervous. She would rather fight a horde of monsters than a swarm of bees any day.

           “It’s more bugs.” Sam said.

“By the way kid, do you have your epi-pen? ‘Cause I don’t think that there would be all these bugs around and no bees.” Dean asked, wanting to make sure she was safe.

           “No, I forgot it, I didn’t think we would be fighting monster bugs.” She responded with some sass.

           “That’s okay I got one in Baby and always have one on me.” Dean said.

……….

They were driving away from the barbeque and in a strange turn of events Sam was driving and Dean was in the passenger seat flipping through their dad’s journal. Dakota was stuck in back, planning her revenge on Dean for letting Sam drive and not her.

           “Ya know, I’ve heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?” Dean asked.

           “Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestation.” Sam said.

           “I don’t know about you boys, but I didn’t see any evidence of ghost activity.” Dakota pointed out and her brothers nodded in agreement.

           “Maybe they’re being controlled somehow by something or someone.” Dean theorized.

           “You mean like ‘Willard’?” Sam asked.

           “Yeah, but with bugs instead of rats.” Dean said.

           “There are case of psychic connections between animals and humans. Elementals, telepaths.” Dakota listed

           “Yeah, the whole Timmy-Lassie thing.” Dean said. “Larry’s kid had bugs for pets.”

           “Lots of people have bugs for pets.” Dakota pointed out.

           “He did try to scare the relator with a tarantula.” Sam pointed out.

           “Fair enough. So, you guys think he’s our Willard?” Dakota asked.

           “I don’t know. Anything’s possible I guess.” Sam said.

           “Pull over here.” Dean instructed pointing to one of the houses. Sam pulled in to the driveway and Dean jumped out of the Impala.

           “What are we doing here?” Sam asked. Dean didn’t answer, just lifted the garage door open.

           “We’re going to squat in an empty house?” Sam said.

           “It’s probably better than most of the motel rooms we’ve stayed in.” Dakota commented before climbing out of the car. “I wanna try the steam shower!” Dakota said.

           “Oh, me too!” Dean said still holding the garage door open so Sam could pull the Impala in. 


	16. Bugs Part 2

That night, Dakota slept great. She had her own room with no brothers waking up with nightmares or kicking her in their sleep or giant moose body taking up the whole bed. She had a full queen size, comfy mattress all to herself and a connecting bathroom with a steam shower. She woke up the next morning and quickly ran to jump in what she now referred to as the most amazing shower of her life. After getting out she threw on her AC/DC shirt, red flannel and jean jacket, ripped skinny jeans, combat boots, put her hair into two French braids, did a bit of eyeliner and mascara and went to look for her brothers.

She walked into the hallway and heard Sam yelling at Dean, “Get out of the shower! Someone was found dead three blocks from here!”

Dean opened the door a crack and said, “This shower is awesome!”

           “I know, right!?” Dakota agreed. Sam rolled his eyes and walked away and Dean closed the door. Dakota went to follow Sam and wait by the car with him.

Once Dean was finally ready to go they got in the Impala and drove the three blocks to the crime scene where they saw the coroner already raking the victim’s body away. They grabbed their umbrellas, seeing as it was raining, and got out of the car walking towards Larry who was on his phone.

           “Hello, you’re back early.” Larry said.

           “Yeah, we strolled in and wanted to take another look at the neighborhood.” Dean lied. Sam asked Larry what had happened.

           “You guys met Linda Bloom at the barbeque?” Larry asked them and they nodded, “Well, she passed away last night. We’re still trying to find out what happened. I had to identify the body for the police. I’m sorry, it’s just really not a good time right now.”

           “It’s okay. We’re so sorry for your loss.” Dakota said and Larry excused himself.

As soon as the developer was out of earshot Dean turned to Sam and Dakota and said, “You know what we have to do, right?”

           “Yeah, get in that house and she if we have a bug problem.” Sam answered. They waited until the police left then hopped the fence into the backyard and climbed in through a window. They walked into the master bedroom and found broken glass, blood, and a body outline and figured they were in the right place. Dean picked up a towel that was laying on the ground and a few large, dead, spiders fell off of it.

           “Remember spider boy?” Dean asked.

           “Matt. Maybe” Sam said, he sounded very defensive about the teenage boy and Dakota could feel that he was angry and annoyed; it hung around Sam like a cloud. Dakota had started refereeing to the weird feeling of being able to feel and almost see other people’s emotions as her X-Men power in her mind. She was still debating bringing it up with her brothers, she knew Dean would freak and Sam had far too much on his mind right now to be dealing with her new “super power”, so Dakota kept it to herself. They had a job to do.

They got into the car and went to Matt’s house in time to see him get off his bus and head in the opposite direction of his house. Matt walked into a wooded area and the Winchesters climbed out of the Impala to go follow him. They found him with a small container and attempting to coax a bug out of a tree. Dakota couldn’t see what it was from where she stood, but found herself interested in finding out.

           “What are you doing out here?” Matt asked.

           “We wanted to talk to you.” Sam said

           “You’re not here to buy a house are you? Wait! You’re not serial killers are you?” Matt asked and Dakota could tell that the kid was truly terrified of the possibility.

           “No. I think you’re safe.” Dakota said with a gentle smile.

           “So, Matt, you sure know a lot about insects. Did you hear that Linda, the realtor died this morning? Spider bites. Yesterday you tried to scare her with a spider.” Dean told him.

           “Wait. You think I had something to do with that? That tarantula was a joke. Anyways, that wouldn’t explain the bee attack or the gas company guy. There’s something going on here. I don’t know what, but something is happening with the insects. Let me show you something” Matt said and he lead them to a different section of the woods.

           “So if you knew about all of this why didn’t you tell your dad?” Sam asked.

           “Oh, I did, but Larry doesn’t believe me.” Matt said. “He’s too disappointed in his freak son.” Dakota immediately knew where this conversation was heading and quickly whipped out her headphones and iPod and blasted Foo Fighters to drown out the fight that was about to happen between her brothers. When they made it to the clearing Matt was leading them to, Kota cautiously removed her head phone as Matt explained how the insects in this area had been acting up.

           “What’s that?” Dakota asked suddenly noticing a large mound of dirt in the area that didn’t look like it belonged. The four walked over to it and found that it was covered in worms. Dean cautiously nudged the pile with his toe and the top collapse revealing that it was hollow inside. Dakota saw a stick laying on the round and went to pick it up and kneel by Dean. She stuck the stick into the hole and hit something right away, although she couldn’t tell what. She and Dean exchanged confused looks. Dean reached down with his hand and pulled out a human skull. The Winchesters looked at each other in shocked.

The Impala rolled down the main road in town before coming to a stop. Dakota was currently sitting in the back of the car next to a cardboard box full of skulls and was surprised to find that she wasn’t the least bit fazed by this. She threw her jacket over the top of the box and got out along with her brothers. Sam took the box from her arms as soon as she was out of the car and they started walking across a small park to the Department of Anthropology.

           “So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave.” Sam said.

           “Maybe this is a haunting. Pissed out spirits, some unfinished business.” Dean said.

           “Yeah, but the question is why bugs? And why now?” Dakota asked.

           “Actually, that’s two questions.” Dean teased and Dakota punched him in the arm. “Ow, you’re strong for someone so short.”

           “I’m not short! I’m a perfectly normal size for a 22-year-old girl! You’re just really tall and Sam’s a moose!” Dakota yelled.

           “Sorry, Mouse. I can’t hear you from down there.” Sam said.

           “Y’all are jackasses.” Kota grumbled and Sam and Dean continued bickering. Dakota reached into her pocket and grabbed her headphones, humming along to the AC/DC song that was playing while they were walking. They only got a few more feet before her brothers stopped walking and turned to their “arguing stance” as Dakota referred to it, standing a few feet away from each other and tensed up like they were about to pounce. She already knew what they were fighting about, it was the same thing they were fighting over in the woods, the same thing they always fight about: their dad.

She removed her headphones in time to hear Sam say, “Ya know what most dads are when their kids scores a full ride? Proud. They don’t kick them out of the house.” Dakota shuttered at the memory of that day.

           “I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases coming out of your mouth.

           “Ya know, truth is, when we finally find Dad, I’m not sure he’s even going to want to see me.” Sam said.

           “Okay! That’s enough! You two really need to learn to stow your crap in public and fight at home like normal people. Sam, of course Dad will want to see you. He was never disappointed and he use to swing by Stanford whenever he could to make sure you were safe. Dean, you’re overly loyal to Dad, and Sam is an adult and can do whatever he wants with his life. Now, can we please get out of the middle of a very busy park with a box full of body parts!” Dakota snapped.

           “Dad use to swing by Stanford?” Sam asked and Dean and Dakota nodded, “Why didn’t he tell me any of that?”

           “Well, that’s a two-way street dude. You coulda picked up the phone. Now common, we’re going to be late for our appointment.” Dean said.

They met with an older professor at the school and gave him the box of skulls.

“So you three are students?” the professor asked.

           “Yeah, we’re in your class. Anthro 101.” Sam answered.

           “So, what about the bones, Professor.” Dean asked.

           “This is quite an interesting find you’ve made. I’d say they’re about 170 years old and given the time frame and geography, I’m willing to bet they’re Native American. Now, according to records there weren’t any tribes or reservations, but the relocation of native people was common at the time.” The professor explained.

           “Well, are there any legends? Oral histories about the area?” Dakota asked.

“Ya know, there is a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa, about 60 miles from here. Someone there might know.” The professor told them.

……….

It took them a little less than an hour to get to Sapulpa. They asked around until they were pointed in the direction of a man named Joe Whitetree. They found him sitting in a dinner playing a game of cards with himself.

           “We’d like to ask you a few questions if that’s alright.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, we’re students from the university.” Dean said.

           “You’re lying.” Joe told them.

           “Well, truth is…” Dean started.

           “You know who starts sentences with ‘truth is’? Liars.” Joe said and Dakota smiled.

           “Have you heard of Oasis Planes? It’s a housing development near the Atoka Valley.” Dakota said.

Joe looked at Dean and said, “I like her. She’s not a liar.” Then he looked over at Sam and Dakota and said, “I know the area.”

           “We wanted to know if you knew about the history there. Bad things have been happening at Oasis Plains and we think it might have to do with some Native American bones we found there.” Sam explained.

           “I will tell you what my grandfather told me. 200 years ago a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American Calvary showed up to relocate them. They were resistant and the Calvary impatient. As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun shared the sky as equals, the Calvary first raided our village. The next day they came again, and the next and the next. On the sixth day the Calvary came on last time and by sun rise every man, woman, and child in the village was dead. They say that on the sixth night as the chief lay dying he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish that land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley and it would bring as many days of death and misery as was brought on my people.” Joe told them.

           “Insects. That sounds like nature to me.” Dean said. “Six days, right?”

           “And on the sixth day, none would survive.” Joe said ominously. They thanked him and walked out of the dinner.

           “When did the gas company guy die?” Dakota asked.

           “Let’s see, we got here Tuesday so Friday the 20th.” Dean answered.

           “March 20th. That’s the spring equinox. So any year about this time anyone in Oasis Plains is in danger. Larry built on cursed land.” Sam said.

           “Wow, he actually is being cursed for building his house on an ancient Native American burial ground. I didn’t think crap like that actually happened.” Dakota said.

           “The sixth night is tonight. If we don’t do something Larry’s whole family will be dead by sunrise!” Sam said. “So, how do we break a curse?”

           “You don’t.” Dakota answered.

           “She’s right, we need to get those people out of there as fast as possible.” Dean told Sam and they climbed in the car to speed off to Oasis Plains. Dean got on the phone with Larry pretending to be some gas company worker and tried to convince him that he and his family needed to leave immediately. By the way Dean hung up the phone Dakota was willing to bet that Larry didn’t take the bait. Dean threw the phone to Sam, who called Matt. Sam quickly instructed the boy to tell his parents that he was having a sharp pain in his right side and needed to go to the hospital. They pulled up to the Pike’s house 20 minutes later and saw that both cars were still in the driveway. They got out of the Impala and made it halfway up the driveway when Larry burst out of the house followed by Matt.

           “Get off my property before I call the cops!” Larry threatened.

           “Dad! They’re just trying to help.” Matt said.

           “Get in the house!” Larry yelled, but Matt made no attempt to move.

           “Sorry, I told him the truth.” Matt apologized.

           “We had a plan Matt. What happened to the plan?” Dean asked referring to the fake appendicitis Sam had told them he told Matt to fake.

           “Look, it’s 12 am. They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go!” Sam said sternly.

           “Right, before the biblical swarm.” Larry mocked.

           “What do you think really happened to that relator? And the gas company guy? You don’t think something weird is going on around here?” Dakota asked.

           “I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re crazy! Come near my family again and we’re going to have a problem.” Larry told them.

           “We have a problem right now!” Dean snapped.

           “Dad, they’re right. We’re in danger.” Matt added on.

           “Matt! Get inside!” Larry yelled.

           “Why won’t you listen to me!?” Matt yelled back.

           “Because it’s crazy! It doesn’t make any sense!” Larry continued yelling.

           “Will everyone please top yelling.” Dakota screamed. Everyone went silent and she continued, “Thank you. Look, this land is cursed. People have died here. Now, are you really going to take that risk with your family?”

           “Wait.” Dean said. “Do you hear it?” Everyone went quite again and sure enough they heard the sound of thousands of wings approaching. The bug zapper hanging on the Pike’s door started going crazy.

           “Okay, we’re out of time. Larry, you need to grab your wife and go, now!” Dean said.

           “Guys!” Matt cried. They looked over to where matt was staring and saw the swarm approaching.

           “Everybody inside! Now! Go!” Dean commanded.

Once they were inside Sam asked Larry if there was anyone else living in Oasis Plains and the Winchesters sighed a breath of relief when he responded that they were the only ones.

Joanie walked into the room then and asked what was going on. Larry told her to call 911.

           “Okay, we need towel.” Dean said and Larry led them to the hall closet. Sam dragged Matt upstairs to lock up everything on the second story.

           “Phones are dead.” Joanie informed them.

           “They must have chewed threw the phone lines.” Dakota guessed and then the lights all went out, “Okay let me rephrase, they must have chewed threw the phone _and_ power lines.”

           “What do we do now?” Larry asked once everything was sealed off and towels had been placed in front of the main doors.

           “We try to outlast it.” Sam answered.

           “Hopefully the curse should end at sunrise.” Dakota told them. Then she noticed that one of the windows was covered in bees and tensed up although no one seemed to notice. She reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and felt that her epi-pen was there and relaxed a little. Dean rushed into the kitchen and came back out with a can of bug spray. Dakota and Sam raised their eyebrows at the spray.

           “What was that?” Matt asked. That’s when they heard a strange creaking sound coming from the fireplace.

           “They’re coming through the chimney.” Sam said.

           “Okay, I think we all need to get upstairs.” Dean said, but before anyone could move the bugs burst into the living room. Dean opened the bug spray and held a lighter to the fluid coming out of the can and ordered everyone upstairs. Sam and Dakota made the Pike’s climb up first then they took off up the stairs. Larry opened up the attic hatch and they quietly climbed into the attic. Everyone sat for a moment catching their breath until Joanie pointed something out.

           “Oh God. What’s that?” She asked and pointed to some holes in the roof.

           “It looks like something is eating through the roof.” Dean said.

           “Termites.” Matt said.

           “Okay, everybody, get back.” Sam said. Dean pulled out the lighter and bug spray again.

           “Ya know, I really don’t think that’s going to help much.” Dakota pointed out. Before Dean could attempt to come up with a witty retort the termites got into the attic. Finally realizing they weren’t going to be able to fight bugs, the Winchesters and Pikes gathered into a huddle and waited for the sun to rise. After hours of waiting the first rays of light shone through the holes in the roof and as quickly as they had appeared, the bugs all left.

Dean looked over at Dakota and asked, “You okay, Baby Girl? No stings? No allergies?”

           “Yeah, Dean. I’m fine.” Kota assured him.

           “I’m fine too. Thanks for asking.” Sam sassed Dean.

           “I was getting to it!” Dean said.

……….

After finding a motel room in town, Sam, Dean, and Dakota all grabbed quick showers, although they were sadly not steam showers, and caught a few hours of sleep. The next morning, they went to the Pike’s house and saw a moving truck being loaded up.

           “What? No goodbye?” Dean joked as he got out of the car.

           “Excellent timing. Another hour and we would have been gone. The development has been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found. But I’m going to make damn sure no one ever lives here again.” Larry told them.

           “You don’t seem too upset about it.” Sam pointed out.

“Well this has been the biggest finical disaster of my career, but somehow I don’t care.” Larry said looking at the house with a smile. Dakota followed his line of sight and saw Matt packing up boxes in the garages.

           “I’m glad you two are getting along.” Dakota said as Sam walked over to talk to the boy. Dean and Dakota went over to the Impala and lend against the hood and waited for Sam to come join them. When he did they all sat there and watched Larry and Matt talking.

           “I wanna find Dad.” Sam stated.

           “Yeah, me too.” Dean said.

           “Same.” Dakota told them.

           “I wanna apologize to him.” Sam continued.

           “For what?” Dean and Dakota asked at the same time.

           “All the things I said to him. He was just doing the best he could.” Sam said.

           “Well don’t worry. We’ll find him and you’ll apologize.” Dean said.

           “And within five minutes, you’ll be at each other’s throats.” Dakota said.

           “True.” Dean said pointing to Dakota, then they looked back over at Sam.

Sam laughed and said, “Yeah, probably. Let’s hit the road.”

           “Yes.” Dakota said and she crawled into the backseat eager to get away from all the bugs.


	17. Home Part 1

Dean and Dakota were sitting at the table in the motel room looking for new cases. Dean had Sam’s laptop and Dakota was looking through various newspapers while Sam sat on the bed doodling. Dakota was a little worried. She was a little worried about Sam, he had been sitting there drawing in silence for a while, but she didn’t feel any strong emotions coming from him so she assumed everything was fine. But then again, she never could get a good read on Sam like she could Dean or other people close to them with strong emotions.

           “Okay,” Dean said snapping her back to reality, “I’ve been looking through some websites and I think I found a few candidates for our next gig. An entire fishing crew went missing off the coast of Cali.”

           “I’m always up to go to California. Sam, you’re input?” Dakota asked, but Sam remained silent.

“And we’ve got some cattle mutilations in West Texas” Dean continued, but Sam was still just doodling. “Hey! Am I boring you with this hunting evil stuff?” Dean asked finally snapping Sam out of it.

           “No. I’m listening. Go on.” Sam said.

           “Okay. I’ve got one. A Sacramento man shot himself in the head three times.” Dakota read from one of her papers.

           “Any of these things blowing up your skirt, pal?” Dean asked.

           “Wait I’ve seen this.” Sam said quietly.

           “Seen what?” Dakota asked. Sam didn’t answer, just got off the bed and went to rummage through one of the duffle bags. After a moment he pulled out their dad’s journal. He brought it over to the bed and started flipping through the photos that they kept in the front. He pulled one out and help his drawing up next to it and his eyes went wide.

           “What is it?” Dean asked.

           “I know where we have to go next.” Sam said slowly.

           “Where?” Dean said.

           “Back home. Back to Kansas.” Sam told them. Dakota’s eyes went wide and her jaw nearly dropped.

           “Okay, where did that come from?” Dean asked.

           “Okay, this photo was taken in front of our house, right? The house where Mom died?” Sam asked showing Dean the photo. Dakota jumped from her seat to lean over Dean’s shoulder and immediately recognized the photo of Sam and her as infants, their mom holding both of them and their dad holding a very young Dean in front of a house.

           “It didn’t burn down completely? I mean, they rebuilt it?” Sam asked.

           “Yeah, I guess so.” Dean said

           “Sam, what the Hell are you talking about?” Dakota asked.

           “Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but the people who live in our old house…I think they’re in danger.” Sam said.

           “Why would you think that?” Dean asked.

           “Look just trust me on this.” Sam said.

           “I’m not going back to Lawrence on trust alone, Sam!” Dakota snapped at her twin.

           “I can’t really explain it.” Sam aid.

           “Well tough! I’m not going anywhere until you do!” Dean yelled.

Sam was silent for a moment then said, “Sometimes I have these nightmares.”

           “Yeah, we’ve noticed.” Dean said.

           “And sometime, they come true.” Sam continued. Dakota was suddenly worried, what were the odds of both her and Sam both having weird X-Men powers show up around the same time. This couldn’t be a good sign. “Look guys. I dreamt about Jessica’s death for days before it happened.”

           “Sam, people have weird dreams.” Dean said.

           “No! I dreamt about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire and I did nothing about it because I didn’t believe it! And now I dreaming about that tree and our house and some woman inside screaming for help. I mean, that’s where it all started that’s got to mean something right!?” Sam said very quickly and was out of breath by the end.

           “I don’t know.” Dean said.

           “What do you mean you don’t know? Dean, this woman might be in danger. I mean this might even be the thing that killed Mom and Jessica.” Sam said and Dakota saw that Dean was about to snap she shot Sam a warning look, but it was too late.

Dean stood up from the bed and said, “Alright. Just slow down would ya? I mean, first you tell me that you’ve got the Shining and then you tell me that I’ve got to go back home? Especially when…” He trailed off looking like he might cry.

           “When what?” Dakota asked.

           “When I swore to myself I would never go back there.” Dean said.

           “Look, maybe we should go there. Just to be sure.” Dakota said.

           “I know we do. And while we’re here, anyone else want to fess up to having visions or any other kind of power?” Dean asked.

           “Well, while we’re all confessing, for the past few months I’ve been able to feel people’s emotions. Almost like they’re my own. It’s like I can see this cloud of sadness hanging over them or I get angry, but it’s not my anger. It only works on people close, physically to me, but it doesn’t work very well on Sam.” Dakota confessed. Dean stared at her for a second then grabbed his bag and walked out the door.

           “That could’ve gone better.” She commented and Sam shot her a worried look.

……….

They made it Lawrence three hours later and pulled up across the street from their old house. Dean shut the car off and stared at it for a few seconds.

           “You gonna be alright, man?” Sam asked.

           “Let me get back to you on that.” Dean said and they climbed out of the car and started walking up to the front door. Sam knocked on the front door and a petit blond woman opened the door and smiled at them.

           “Hi, I’m Sam Winchester, this is my brother Dean and my sister Dakota. We used to live here. You know, we were just driving by and we thought we would come by and see the old place.

           “Winchester? You know I think I found of your photos last night.” She said.

           “You did?” Dean asked.

           “Yeah. Common in.” The woman said opening the door further for them. They followed her down the hallway, Dakota saw Dean looking at the walls and floors, remembering the few found memories he had on the house. Dakota looked around trying to see if anything was familiar, but was not surprised to find she had no memories of this place or the happy family that once lived in it. Jenny, they learned the new homeowner’s name was, led them into the kitchen where a girl about seven years old was sitting at the table and a little boy about three in his playpen demanding juice.

           “That’s Richie. He’s a bit of a juice junky. But at least he won’t get scurvy.” She said grabbing juice from the fridge. “And this is Sari. Sari this is Sam, Dean, and Dakota, they use to live here.” She introduced.

           “Hi, Sari. So, you just moved in?” Dakota asked.

           “Yeah, from Wichita.” Jenny.

           “You got family here?” Dean asked.

           “No, just needed a fresh start is all. So, new town, new job, new house.” She explained.

           “How are you liking it so far?” Sam asked her.

           “Well, no disrespect to your childhood home, I’m sure you have lots of happy memories here, but it’s getting a bit old. Like the wiring, we have flickering lights almost hourly.” She said.

           “Oh, that’s too bad.” Dakota said.

           “Yeah, anything else?” Dean asked.

           “Well, sinks backed up, there are rats in the basement. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to complain.” She apologized.

           “No, not all.” Sam said.

           “Mom?” Sari called and Jenny went and knelt down next to her, “Ask them if it lived here when they lived here.” Sari said in a whisper, but Dakota still managed to hear it.

           “What thing, Sari?” Sam asked.

           “The thing in my closet.” Sari said.

           “Baby, there’s nothing in the closet. Sorry, she had a nightmare last night.” Jenny explained.

           “It wasn’t a nightmare! It came out of my closet and it was on fire!” Sari said and the Winchesters exchanged terrified looks.

           “Well, thank you so much for letting us come by, but we really should be going. I hope you enjoy the place.” Dakota said and she dragged her brothers outside.

The minute they were outside the house Sam said, “You hear that? A figure on fire!”

           “And that woman, Jenny, that was the woman in you dream?” Dean asked.

           “Yes, and you hear what she was talking about? Scratching, flickering lights? Both signs of a malevolent spirit.” Sam practically yelled.

           “Sam! You’ve got to calm down!” Dakota said.

           “Yeah, well, I’m just freaked out that your visions are coming true.” Dean said.

           “Forget about that! The thing in the house, do you think it’s the thing that killed Mom and Jessica?” Sam snapped.

           “I don’t know!” Dean said and Dakota could tell that he was getting frustrated.

           “Well, do you think it’s been there the whole time or has it come back?” Sam asked still yelling.

           “Or it could be something else entirely. We don’t know. So let’s just all keep our cool until we have a better grasp on what’s happening.” Dakota, ever the voice of reason, said. Naturally, she was ignored.

           “We have to get those people out of the house, now!” Sam said.

           “And how are we going to do that? You gotta story that she’s going to believe?” Dean yelled.

           “Then what are we supposed to do?” Sam yelled.

           “We could stop yelling for starters!” Dakota yelled.

……….

They went to a gas station in town to fill up the Impala and to regroup.

           “We’ve just got to keep our cool.” Dean said.

           “Okay, I said that not 10 minutes ago and y’all ignored me, but now that you’re saying it it’s a good idea?” Dakota complained.

           “Sorry, Baby Girl.” Dean apologized then continued, “Look if this were any other case what would we do?”

Sam took a deep calming breath which Dakota thought he desperately needed and said, “We’d try to figure out what we are dealing with. We’d dig into the history of the house.”

           “Yeah, but in this case we already know what happened.” Dean said.

           “Well, how much do we actually know?” Dakota said her oldest brother.

           “Yeah, I mean, what do you remember?” Sam asked Dean.

Dean got a far off look in his eyes and recalled, “I remember the fire, the heat…then I carried you out the front door.” He said addressing Sam, then looked at Dakota, “And Dad carried you out, but not before running back into the nursery one last time to try to save Mom.”

           “You did?” Sam asked.

           “Yeah.  What? You never knew that?” Dean asked before continuing, “Yeah, well, then you know Dad’s story as well as I do, Mom was…was on the ceiling. And whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad got there.” Dakota reached up and wiped away the tear that had escaped her eyes while Dean was talking. She always cried when her dad and Dean talked about her mom, even though it wasn’t very often.

           “And he never had a theory about what happened?” Sam asked.

           “If he did, he kept it to himself. God knows we asked him enough times.” Dean answered.

           “Okay, so if we want to know what’s going on now, we have to know what’s going on then. See if it’s the same thing.” Dakota said.

           “Yeah. Talk to Dad’s friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time.” Dean listed.

           “Does this feel like just another job to you?” Sam asked.

Dean was silent for a moment, then said, “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna use the bathroom.” And quickly walked away. Dakota figured he was actually just laving so he could be alone for a minute, it was always hard for him to talk about their mom.

           “You okay, Kota?” Sam asked.

           “No.” Dakota said simply and Sam wrapped his arm around her. She laid her head on his arm and they sat on the trunk waiting for Dean to return.

………

The Winchesters went to Gunther’s Auto Repair shop where their dad use to work to ask the owner of the shop some questions.

           “So, you and John Winchester used to own this garage together?” Dean asked.

           “Yeah, a long time ago. In fact, it must be 20 years since John disappeared. So why are the cops interested all of a sudden?” Gunther asked.

           “Oh, we’re opening some of our old cases and the Winchester disappearance is one of them.” Dakota told him.

           “Okay. So what do you want to know about John?” He asked

           “Whatever you remember. Whatever sticks out in your mind.” Dean said.

           “Well, he was a stubborn bastard I remember that.” Gunther started and Dakota saw Sam look at the ground, trying not to laugh, “And whatever the game he hated to loose. It was that old Marine thing. But, he sure loved Mary and he doted on those kids.” Dakota smiled as he said this.

           “But that was before the fire? He ever talk about that night?” Sam asked.

           “No, not at first. I think he was in shock.” Gunther said.

           “Right. But eventually?” Dakota asked.

           “Oh, you wouldn’t think it straight. He said that something caused that fire and killed Mary.” Gunther said.

           “Did he ever say what did it?” Dean asked.

           “Nothing did it. It was an accident. There was an electrical short in the ceiling, or walls, or something.” He said and the siblings exchanged bitchfaces, “I begged him to get some help, but he just got worse and worse.”

           “Worse how?” Dakota asked.

           “Well, he started reading these strange old books and he went to see a palm reader in town.” Gunther explained.

           “Do you have a name?” Dean asked. And Gunther shook his head.

           “Well, thank you for your time.” Sam said and the Winchesters left to go find a phone booth and phone book to find a psychic.

Sam and Dakota were flipping through the pages reading names out loud to Dean to see if anything was familiar. They stumbled upon the name Missouri Moseley. Dean grabbed their dad’s journal out of the back seat and opened it to the page he was looking for.

           “First page, first sentence. Look at that.” Dean said.

           “‘I went to Missouri and I learned the truth.’” Sam read aloud

           “Huh. I always thought he meant the state.” Dakota said recalling the many times she had read the journal.


	18. Home Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brought to you by "Light in the hallway" by Petatonix

They found Missouri’s address and jumped in the Impala. When they got there, they waited in her waiting room while she finished with a client. A short African American woman with curly hair and a light quite voice walked through the waiting room then showing her current client out, assuring him that everything was fine, then turned to look at the Winchesters.

           “Poor bastard. His wife is cold banging the gardener.” Missouri said.

           “Why didn’t you tell him?” Dean asked.

           “People don’t come here for the truth, they come here for good news.” She said and she started to walk away, then she came back and said, “Well? Common Sam, Dean, Dakota I ain’t got all day.” She snapped and Dakota smiled, she already liked this woman. They followed Missouri into the living room and she turned to look at them.

           “Well, you boys grew up handsome. And you were one goofy looking kid.” She said to Dean then turned to Dakota, while Sam was giggling, and said, “And aren’t you just so pretty? You were always such a cutie, but look at you now all grown up and looking like your Momma.” Missouri fussed over them. Dakota didn’t necessarily believe that, she had a photo of her and her mom together that she always carried with her and Dakota had always thought her mother was far more beautiful than she was. Dakota watched as Missouri reached over for Sam’s hand and said, “Oh, Sam. I’m sorry about your girlfriend. And your father, he’s missing?”

           “How did you do that?” Dakota asked.

           “Well, your brother was thinking it just now.” Missouri said.

           “Where is he is he okay?” Dean asked.

           “I don’t know.” Missouri confessed.

           “What do you mean you don’t know? You’re supposed to be psychic, right?” Dean asked

           “Boy! Do you see me sawing some boney tramp in half? I’m not a magician! I might be able to read thoughts and sense energies in the room, but I can’t pull thoughts out of thin air!” Missouri snapped and Dakota and Sam started snickering at their big brother’s misfortune. “Now, sit please.” She said gesturing to the couch. They all took their seats and Missouri pointed at Dean and snapped, “Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, Imma whack you with a spoon!”

           “I didn’t do anything!” Dean defended.

           “Well, you were thinking about it!” Missouri said and Dakota let out another laugh. She liked this woman more and more.

           “So, our Dad, when did you meet him?” Sam asked.

           “He came for a reading a few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say, I drew back the curtains for him.” Missouri told them.

           “What about the fire? Do you…do you know what killed our Mom?” Dakota asked in a shaky voice.

           “A little. Your daddy took me to your house. He was hoping I could sense the echoes, the finger prints of this thing.” Missouri explained.

           “And could you?” Dean asked and Missouri nodded.

           “What was it?” Sam asked.

           “I don’t know, but it was evil. So, you think something is back in that house?” Missouri asked. Dakota was shocked for a moment since they hadn’t told her Sam’s theory, but then she realized that Missouri was psychic and could read minds. “I don’t understand. I haven’t been back in the place, but I’ve been keeping an eye on it and it’s been quite. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents, why is it acting up now?”

           “I don’t know, but Dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house all happening at once. It feels like something’s starting.” Sam said.

           “Well, that’s a comforting thought.” Dean commented.

They decided to go back to their old house, but this time they brought Missouri along with them. A very frazzled Jenny opened the door for them, holding Richie tight in her arms. Dakota could feel how scared the woman was, and saw Missouri shot her a look out of the corner of her eye. She figured since Missouri was psychic, maybe she could tell Dakota was taping into her powers. She really had no control over them, if someone nearby felt any emotion strongly, Kota would pick up on it.

           “Hi, Jenny, this is our friend Missouri.” Sam introduced.

           “Yeah, we were wondering if you wouldn’t mind letting us show here around the place, for old times’ sake.” Dakota explained.

           “Ya know, now’s really not a good time. I’m sorry.” Jenny said and she started to close the door.

           “Wait, Jenny! This is important!” Dean told her and Missouri smacked him upside the head.

           “Give the poor girl a break! Can’t you see she’s upset? You’ll have to forgive this boy, he means well he’s just not the sharpest tool in the shed.” Missouri said and Dakota let out a small laugh that she tried to cover with a cough. “Hear me out about this house.”

           “What are you talking about?” Jenny asked.

           “I think you know what I’m talking about. You think there’s something in this house. Something that once to hurt you and your family. We’re people who can help. People who can stop this thing, but you’re going to have to trust us.” Missouri said. Jenny looked between the four of them then nodded and stepped aside so they could enter. Missouri led them up the stairs to one of the children’s bedrooms.

           “If there was a dark energy in this house this room should be the source of it.” Missouri explained.

           “Why?” Dakota asked.

           “This use to be your and Sam’s nursery. This is where it all happened.” Missouri said gently and Dakota immediately felt tears spring to her eyes. All the Winchesters immediately turned their faces up to the ceiling for moment then looked back down.

Dean and Dakota pulled out their EMF readers and started scanning the room. Missouri looked at Dean disapprovingly and muttered, “Amateur.” She continued walking around the room for a moment then said, “I don’t know if you should be disappointed or not, but this is not the thing that took your mom. This isn’t the same energy I felt last time I was here.” Missouri said as she walked over to the closet.

           “What is it?” Dean asked. Missouri threw open the closet doors and Dakota half expected something to jump out at them.

           “Not it. Them. There’s more than one spirit here.” Missouri told them.

           “What are they doing here?” Dakota asked.

           “They’re here because of what happened to your family.” Missouri walked back over to where the siblings where still standing, “You see, all those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house, that kind of evil leaves wounds. And sometimes wounds get infected.”

Dakota tilted her head to the side a little, not quite understanding what Missouri was saying. Sam said, “I don’t understand.”

           “This place is a magnet for paranormal activity. It’s attracted a poltergeist, a nasty one. And it won’t rest until Jenny and her babies are dead.” Missouri told them.

           “You said there was more than one spirit.” Dakota pointed out.

           “There is. I just can’t quite make out the second one.” Missouri said.

           “Well one thing’s for damn sure. No one is dying in this house ever again. So whatever it is, how do we stop it?” Dean asked. Missouri set them to work making protection charms in the kitchen. Dean was sitting at the table working away and Sam was leaning on one of the chairs. Dakota was trying to focus on what her brothers were saying, but kept getting distracted by this house. This was her house, a house she had no memories of; she looked around imagining what her life might have been like if she had lived her for more than just six months.

           “Hey, kid! You listening?” Dean yelled snapping Dakota back to the future.

           “Huh?” She asked.

           “We each take a floor and put these bags in the North, South, East, and West corners, in the walls and meet back in here when we’re done. I’ve got this floor, Sam has the basement, and you take the top floor. Missouri is making sure Jenny and the kids get out for the night. Okay?” Dean asked.

           “Yea, De. Sounds great.” She said and she picked up four bags and a hammer and went upstairs. She started in the master bedroom. She knelt down at the North corner of the house and punched a hole in the wall and placed the bag inside. Then she did the East and West. As she finished the West she stood up and turned to walk out the door when a dresser flew across the room and pinned her from the waist down to the wall.

           “Really!?” She asked. Suddenly a bright white light flashed from down the hall. “Sam, Dean you guys okay?” Dean ran into the room right as Dakota finished pushing the dresser off her.

           “Hey. We got the last corner of the house for you the spirit should be gone.” Dean explained, “You okay, kiddo?” He asked and Dakota nodded. They went downstairs to the kitchen which looked like a tornado had gone through it. “What the Hell?” She asked.

           “Don’t…just don’t.” Sam responded.

Dakota’s X-Men powers tapped in then, but it was different than normal, it didn’t seem to be coming from Sam, Dean, or Missouri. She felt this strange presence still in the house, not evil though, it was more concerned and caring. Maybe they had gotten rid of the poltergeist, but whatever the second energy was had stayed.

           “You’re sure this is over?” Sam asked.

Missouri was quiet for a moment, Dakota imagined she was feeling for energies, then said, “I’m sure. Why do you ask?”

           “It’s nothing.” Sam said. Even though Dakota thought that it was painfully obvious that something was bugging her twin. Maybe if her superpowers had turned on, Sam’s had too.

           “We’re home!” Jenny called as she opened the front door. She and the kids came into the kitchen and looked around to see all the toppled over furniture and food that had been thrown around. “What happened?” She asked.

           “Um…hi. So sorry. We’ll pay for all of this.” Dakota said and she saw Dean shoot her a surprised look from the other side of the kitchen.

           “Don’t you worry, honey. Dean’s going to clean up this mess.” Missouri said and Dakota laughed as Dean’s eyes got big. “What you waiting for boy? Get the mop” Missouri sassed. “And don’t cuss at me!” She added. Dean went off to clean, pouting the whole time. Dakota took pity on him after a few minutes and went to help him clean up and after another moment, Sam came in to help too.

Once they were finished they left the house with Missouri and Jenny yelled, “Thank you!” from the door way. They took Missouri home and started to drive away.

           “Wait! We should go back there! Just for tonight and if by morning nothing happens, then we can leave.” Sam pleaded.

           “I kinda agree with him.” Dakota said

           “Fine, gang up on me! See if I care!” Dean teased and they drove back to the house to sit outside it all night keeping watch, not stalkerish at all.

After a few hours, Dean said, “Alright, so tell me again, what are we still doing here?”

           “I don’t know, I just…I still have a bad feeling.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, and I kinda felt something in that house, not evil though, but my weird powers were definitely picking up something.” Dakota confessed. Dean dropped his head and sighed before turning back to look at the house.

           “Why? Missouri did her whole Zelda Rubenstein thing. The house should be clean. This should be over.” Dean said.

           “Dean, we should really make sure.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, well problem is, I could be sleeping in a bed right now.” Dean said and he closed his eyes and lend his head back again the back of the seat. Seeing this made Dakota realize how tired she was and she started yawning.

           “GUYS!” Sam yelled and Dakota sprung up to see Jenny banging on the bedroom window. They all jumped out of the car and sprinted towards the house.

           “Sam grab Richie, Kota grab Sari, I’ll get Jenny.” Dean instructed. They burst through the front door and took off up the stairs. Dakota reached Sari’s room, her and Sam’s old nursery, and saw a figure on fire coming out of the closet towards the little girl. Dakota froze for a moment in the room way then saw Sari sitting on her bed crying and went back to work. She picked the little girl up and turned her head into her shoulder.

           “Don’t look, Sweetie, don’t look.” Dakota said. She stepped into the hallway and ran into Sam who was carrying a sleepy Richie. They made their way down the stairs when they heard growling behind them. The front door was open and they could see Jenny and Dean waiting for them.

           “Okay,” Sam said and he set down Richie then took Sari from Dakota’s arms and set her down, “Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can and don’t look back.” Sam commanded.

Something grabbed on to Dakota’s leg and pulled her down the hallway, she looked over and saw Sam was being dragged too right before they crashed into the kitchen table and chairs. They invisible force picked up Dakota and sent her flying into the cabinets. She felt a few pieces of wood and glass cut her, but she didn’t think she had any serious damage. Sam was currently being thrown around the room as well, but Dakota was in too much pain to see where he was. Suddenly she was picked up and pinned a foot above the ground on a wall next to Sam. She could hear Dean yelling for them, but before she could answer the figure on fire entered the room and Dakota felt that strange comforting feeling she had felt earlier. Dean ran into the kitchen and raised his shotgun and the approaching creature.

           “NO! Wait! Don’t!” Sam and Dakota screamed.

           “Why not!?” Dean asked.

           “Because I know who it is. I can see her now.” Sam said. The flames around the figured died out and Dakota saw her mother standing there.

           “Mom?” She said in a whisper so quite she could barely hear it. Dean dropped his gun to his side. Mary walked over to him and smiled.

           “Dean.” Was all she said still smiling. Dean gave a small smile and looked like he was about to cry. Dakota could already feel a few tears slipping down her cheeks. Then she walked over to Dakota and Sam, who were still pinned to the wall.

           “Sam, Dakota.” She said. Her smile dropped and she said, “I’m sorry.”

           “For what?” Dakota asked. She stared at them with a hint of sadness in her eyes then turned and walked to the center of the room and looked at the ceiling.

           “You get out of my house! And let go of my kids!” Mary ordered before catching fire again and burning away the poltergeist. She disappeared and whatever she had done much have worked because Sam and Dakota fell away from the wall and all three stared at the spot where their mom had been standing.

           “Now it’s over.” Sam said in a gentle whisper.

……….

The next morning, Dean and Dakota were leaning against the Impala, looking through the photos Jenny had given them.

           “Thank you for these.” Dean said.

           “No need, they’re yours.” Jenny said. Dakota smiled and went to join Sam who was sitting on the front steps. She got there right as Missouri was coming out of the house.

           “Well, there are no spirits in there this time, honey. That’s for sure.” Missouri said.

           “Not even our mom?” Sam asked.

           “No.” Missouri said.

           “What happened in there?” Dakota asked pulling her jacket tighter around herself.

           “Your mom’s spirit and the poltergeist, they canceled each other out. Your mom destoryed herself going after the thing.” Missouri explained. Dakota felt tears well up in her eyes. She couldn’t wait to get out of this town, she was tired of crying. She looked over and saw that Sam had tears in his eyes too.

           “Why would she do something like that?” Sam asked.

           “Well, to protect her kids, of course.” Missouri said. She paused for a moment then said, “Sam, Dakota, I’m sorry.”

           “For what?” Dakota asked.

           “You two sensed it was here didn’t you. Even when I couldn’t.” Missouri said.

           “What’s happening to us?” Sam asked

           “I know I should have all the answers, but I don’t know.” Missouri told them.

           “Hey, you two ready?” Dean yelled from the car. They climbed in the Impala and drove away, and as they were leaving Dakota turned and looked at the house that could have been home one more time from the back window.


	19. Asylum Part 1

The Winchesters were sitting around their motel room trying to find information on where their dad might be. Dakota and Sam were making some calls and Dean was flipping through their dad’s journal. Dakota and Sam hung up there phones almost at the exact same moment.

Dean looked up from the journal. “Caleb hasn’t heard from him?” He asked.

           “Nope.” Sam answered.

           “Jefferson and Pastor Jim haven’t either.” Dakota said.

           “What about the journal, any leads in there?” Sam asked.

           “No, same as last time I looked. Nothing I can make out.” Dean told them. Dakota groaned and flopped down on the bed she was sitting on. “I love the guy, but I swear, he writes like freakin’ Yoda.” Dean continued.

           “Ya know maybe we should call the Feds. Putting out a missing persons.” Sam suggested.

           “Dude, we’ve talked about this. Dad would be pissed if we put the Feds on his trail!” Dakota said.

           “I don’t care anymore! After all that happened in Kansas. He should have been there! Dean, you said do yourself that you tried to call him…” Sam stopped his rant as Dean’s phone began ringing on the table between the two beds.

         “I don’t believe it.” Dean muttered.

           “What?” Dakota asked.

           “It’s a text. It’s coordinates.” Dean explained. Sam activated his bitchface.

           “You think Dad was texting us?” Sam asked.

           “I didn’t even know Dad knew how to text. I mean, the man can barely work a toaster.” Dakota said.

         “He’s sent us coordinates before. Guys, this is good news! This means he’s okay, or alive at least.” Dean said and he sat down at the kitchen table in front of Sam’s laptop to look up the coordinates.

           “Well, was there a number on the caller ID?” Sam asked.

           “It said Unknown.” Dean answered.

           “So, where do the coordinates point?” Dakota asked.

           “Well, that’s the interesting part. Rockford, Illinois.” Dean said.

           “Okay…” Dakota said waiting to hear why this was such big news.

“And that’s interesting how?” Sam asked.

“I checked the local Rockford paper and take a look at this.” Dean said turning the computer screen towards them. Dakota and Dean huddled in front of the tiny screen to read the article. “This cop, Walter Kelly, comes home from his shift, shoots his wife then blows his brains out.” Dean explained.

“Yeah, I’m still missing the part where this is interesting.” Dakota said and Dean shot her his own bitchface, although it was not nearly as powerful as Sam’s.

           “Earlier that night Kelly and his partner responded to a call at the Roosevelt Asylum.” Dean explained.

           “Ohhh.” Dakota said, finally realizing why this was their kind of case.

           “’Kay, I’m not following.” Sam said.

Dean grabbed the journal that was laying on the table and explained, “Dad earmarked the asylum in his journal. Seven unconfirmed sightings, two deaths, till last week at least. I think this is where he wants us to go.”

Sam stood up and started pacing, never a good sign, “This is a job. Dad wants us to work a job.” He said.

           “Maybe he’s already there. Maybe we’re meeting up with him.” Dean said hopefully and Dakota raised an eyebrow at this.

           “Maybe he’s not. Maybe he’s ending us there by himself to hunt this thing.” Sam said.

           “Who cares!” Dean said slamming the laptop closed. “If he wants us there, it’s good enough for me.” He continued as he stood up and started packing. Sam look at Dakota with a look of disbelief on his face and Dakota just shrugged. Dean had always been like this with their dad, so Dakota wasn’t sure why Sam was so shocked. She didn’t always agree with Dean, but since she was shorter, younger, and he had the car keys, she didn’t really get a say in the matter.

           “This doesn’t sorta strike you as weird? The texting the coordinates?” Sam asked turning back to Dean.

           “Sam! Dad’s telling us to go somewhere, we’re going.” Dean told them. Dakota dropped her head on to the table, she simply didn’t understand Dean and their dad’s relationship. Dean walked into the bathroom to start grabbing more things and Sam went to open his mouth to talk, but Dakota stopped him.

           “Don’t. You’re just going to piss him off and then we are going to be stuck in a car with an angry Dean for hours.” Dakota warned and Sam nodded and they set to work packing.

……….

They made it to Rockford just as the sun was setting and after asking around they found out that Officer Kelly’s ex-partner, Daniel Gunderson, was at a local bar. The boys came up with some stupid, elaborate plan to get the information they needed from him and left Dakota to talk to the locals about the local lore. Dakota went and sat at a bar stool to start gathering information. Within a minute of her sitting there, the bartender came over with a drink.

           “What’s this? I haven’t ordered anything yet.” Dakota said in confusion.

           “Well, you looked a little lonely so I thought I would make you a drink to cheer you up. I hate to see pretty girls so sad. You look like a screwdriver girl. I hope you like it.” The bartender said.

           “Oh, how sweet of you.” Dakota said, she was normally more of a whiskey and beer girl, but she wasn’t about to say no to free alcohol from an attractive stranger. “I’m Lily.” She lied.

           “I’m Travis. So, what’s a pretty girl like you doing sitting alone in a bar?” Travis asked.

Dakota gave a fake giggle and said, “Well, I’m a journalism student from the University of Chicago and my professor wants us to write a story on folklore and I heard you guys have a supposedly haunted asylum, so I figured I’d come down here and ask around, maybe check it out for myself.”

           “Oh, I don’t know much about that. I just moved here from Pennsylvania for school about a year ago, but I heard that a few people have gone missing there, a few have even died! Did you hear about what happened to that cop last week?” Travis asked.

           “Yeah, it was tragic. Well, I better get going, I have to hit the library bright and early tomorrow. Thanks for the drink.” Dakota said

“Wait! Here’s my number. Call me sometime.” Travis said handing her a napkin with a phone number on it. Dakota winked and she knocked back her screwdriver. She went outside to wait for her brothers. Dean was already out there leaning on the car.

           “You get anything out of the bartender?” Dean asked

           “Yeah, a free drink and a phone number.” Dakota said and Dean glared at her, “Oh, you meant about the case. No, I got nothing.” Sam came out of the bar then and told them what he had learned from the cop. It was the same story they always heard: everyone loved him, he was great at his job, loved his wife, wanted a family, ect.

           “So, either Kelly had some deep seeded crazy waiting to burst or something did it to him.” Dean summarized.

“What did he tell you about the asylum?” Dakota asked.

“A lot.” Sam said.

……….

The next morning the Impala pulled up behind the asylum and the siblings quickly hopped the fence surrounding it. Inside was covered in graffiti and beer bottles.

           “So apparently the cops chased the kids here, into the south wing.” Sam said pointing to the big sign that read “South Wing”.

           “Wait. Dean, can I see Dad’s journal?” Dakota asked and Dean tossed it to her. She quickly flipped through the pages until she found the one she was looking for and read aloud, “‘1972, three kids broke into the south wing. Only one survived.’ The way he tells it, it sounds like one of his friends went crazy and started a huge fire.”

           “So, whatever’s going on, South Wing seems like the heart of it.” Sam said and Dakota and Dean nodded in agreement.

           “Yeah, but if kids are spelunking the asylum, why aren’t there more deaths?” Dean asked.

           “I’m sorry, are you complaining that more innocent people haven’t died?” Dakota sassed.

           “Of course not! I’m looking for a pattern!” Dean said.

           “Hey, it looks like the doors are usually chained.” Sam said snapping Dakota’s attention away from bickering with Dean. Sure enough, there were chains hanging off one of the door handles. “This place might have been locked up for years.”

           “To keep people out, or to keep something in.” Dean said. Sam and Dakota pushed the doors open.

They started walking down the old abandoned hallways of the south wing with their EMF detectors.

           “Let me know if you see any dead people Haley Joel.” Dean teased Sam.

           “Dude, enough.” Sam said.

           “How come you’re only asking Sam if he sees dead people, maybe my weird powers will be the ones to kick in.” Dakota pointed out.

           “Oh, yeah, and what are you going to do with those powers, huh? Feel people to death?” Dean joked. “At least Sam’s are useful, he can see things. You can just tell when someone is feeling sad. Seriously, you two need to be careful. Ghost are attracted to that whole ESP stuff you’ve got going on.”

           “I told you, it’s not ESP! I just get weird vibes sometimes and strange dreams.” Sam explained.

           “Yeah, whatever. Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Dean said.

           “I’m not getting any readings on this, are you?” Dakota asked waving her EMF reader around.

           “Nope, but that don’t mean no one’s home.” Dean said.

           “Spirits can appear during certain hours of the day.” Sam pointed out.

           “Yep, the freaks come out at night. Hey Sam, who do you think is a hotter psychic? Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt, or you?” Dean asked and laughs.

Sam hits his shoulder and Dakota says, with as much sarcasm as she can fit in her 5’4 body, “Yeah, you’re freakin’ hysterical.”

They found a room that read “Operation Room” above the door and went in. There was old medical equipment and several selves with jar full of Dakota didn’t want to know what.

           “Man, elector shock, lobotomies, they did some twisted stuff to these people. Kinda like my man Jack in ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’” Dean said looking at some of the equipment. Dakota rolled her eyes at Dean’s reference, even though it was a pretty great movie.

           “So, what do we think? Ghost are possessing people?” Dakota asked.

           “Maybe, or maybe it’s more like Amityville or Smurl Haunting.” Sam explained.

           “Ah, spirits driving them insane.” Dean said.

           “Kinda like my man Jack in ‘The Shining’” Dakota said and Dean lend over to give her a fist bump. She raised an eyebrow at him.

           “Don’t leave a man hanging, Kota.” Dean said and she rolled her eyes and gave him a fist bump.

           “So, when are we going to talk about it?” Sam asked.

           “About what?” Dean asked.

           “About the fact Dad’s not here.” Sam said.

           “Oh God, here we go.” Dakota muttered under her breath.

           “Oh, uh, let’s see. Never.” Dean answered.

           “I’m being serious.” Sam said.

           “So am I. Look, he sent us here, he obviously wants us here. We’ll just have to pick up the search later.” Dean said.

           “This isn’t about what Dad wants!” Sam snapped.

           “You see, that attitude right there, that is why I always got the extra cookie.” Dean said.

           “Okay, while you two are fighting, I’m going to look around for something useful.” Dakota said, but her brothers weren’t listening, as per usual when they were fighting. Dakota pulled out her EMF reader and walked a bit further into the room, still not picking up anything, but not wanting to get involved in Sam and Dean’s fight unless she absolutely had to. She walked up to one of the tables and found a sigh with “Sanford Ellicott: Chief of Staff” on it.

           “Hey, boys! If you’re done arguing over who Dad loved best, I found something actually helpful to the case.” Dakota yelled and her brothers finally turned to look at her.

She showed them the sigh and Dean said, “Well you know what we gotta do? Find out more about the south wing.”

……….

They went back into town and found out that Sanford Ellicott had a son who was a therapist and after a few intense rounds of rock, paper, scissors, Sam was chosen to go in for a session. Dakota and Dean decided that there wasn’t enough time to go anywhere so they waited outside the building for around an hour. Half way through Dakota made a quick run across the street for coffee, but other than that the two just sat around listening to music. Finally, Sam came out of his appointment and walked right past them.

           “Dude. You were in there forever. What were you talking about?” Dean asked as Dakota and he went to catch up with him.

           “The hospital, mostly. And I found out the south wing is where they housed the really hard cases. The psychotic, the criminally insane. One night in 1964 they rioted. Attacked the staff, attacked each other.” Sam explained as they walked towards the Impala.

           “So, the patience took over the asylum. Any deaths?” Dakota asked.

           “Some patience, some staff. I guess it was pretty gory, some of the bodies were never recovered, including the Chief of Staff, Ellicott.” Sam said.

           “What do you mean, never recovered?” Dean asked.

           “Cops looked over every inch of that place, but the patience must have…stuffed…the bodies somewhere hidden.” Sam said.

           “Ew.” Dakota said at the mental image that conjured up.

           “That’s grim.” Dean said.

           “Yeah, so they transferred all the surviving patience and shut down the hospital.” Sam explained.

           “Alright, so to sum up, we’ve got a bunch of violent deaths and a bunch of unrecovered bodies.” Dean said.

           “Which could mean a bunch of angry spirits.” Sam said.

           “Good times. I say we check out the hospital tonight.” Dakota suggested before getting into the car.


	20. Asylum Part 2

The Winchesters got to the asylum that night with flashlights, EMF readers, and a camcorder, ready to do some ghost busting. They quietly walked into the south wing and almost immediately their readers went off and continued to as they walked further into the abandoned hospital. Sam’s camcorder was also picking up orbs of light, a sure sign of spirits.

           “There are probably multiple spirits out and about. If the unrecovered bodies are doing causing this…” Dakota started before Dean cut her off.

           “We gotta find them and burn.” Dean said. “Just be careful, the only thing that makes me more nervous than a pissed off spirit, is the pissed off spirit of a psycho killer.” Dean cautioned and they kept walking. They came to three doors and each took a room. Dakota walked around with her EMF reader which was going crazy, but other than that nothing eventful happened.

           “Dean! Kota!” She heard Sam yell and she took off to the room he was in with Dean hot on her heels. They ran in and saw a spirit closing in on Sam. Dean pulled out his gun and Dakota yelled at Sam to get down.

           “That was weird. She didn’t attack me. She didn’t hurt me; she didn’t even try. So if she didn’t want to hurt me than what did she want?” Sam asked. A clanking noise came from the room across the hall and they slowly made their way in to were a bed had been thrown on its side. A young woman with blond hair and tears streaming down her face popped up from behind the bed. She couldn’t have been more than 16.

           “It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you.” Dakota said lowering her gun, then she elbowed Dean to lower his as well.

           “It’s okay. What’s your name?” Dean asked.

           “Katherine. Kat.” The girl responded in a shaky voice.

           “I’m Dean, this is my brother Sam and sister Dakota.” Dean introduced.

           “What are you doing here?” Sam asked her.

           “My boyfriend, Gavin, he thought it would be fun to try and see some ghost. I thought it was all just pretend.” Kat said as she wrapped her arms around herself, “I’ve seen things. I heard Gavin scream!”

           “Alright, Kat. Sam and Dakota are going to get you out of here and then we’re going to find your boyfriend.” Dean said dragging Kat by her elbow. Dakota narrowed her eyes at Dean for putting her on babysitting duty.

           “No!” Kat yelled ripping her arm from Dean’s grasp. “I’m not going to leave without Gavin. I’m coming with you.”

           “Let’s not joke around. It’s dangerous.” Dean told her sternly.

           “That’s why I’ve got to find him.” Kat said.

           “Alright, let’s split up. Dean and Kat together and me and Sam.” Dakota suggested and everyone agreed. After ten or so minutes of searching, Sam and Dakota stumbled upon an unconscious boy who they assumed was Gavin. The boy woke with a start.

           “Hey. It’s okay. We’re here to help.” Sam said and Dakota put a hand on Gavin’s shoulder to try and calm him down.

           “Who are you?” Gavin asked.

           “I’m Dakota and this is Sam. We found Kat. She’s worried about you.” Dakota explained while Sam helped the boy up. He stood up and touched the cut on his forehead.

           “I was running from someone and I must have tripped, I don’t know. There was this girl. Her face…it was all messed up!” Gavin exclaimed.

           “Okay. Listen. This girl, did she try to hurt you?” Sam asked.

           “No. She…she…kissed me.” Gavin said. That was not the answer Dakota was expecting.

           “Ummm.” Dakota responded.

           “But, uh, she didn’t hurt you, physically?” Sam asked

           “Dude, she kissed me! I’m scarred for life!” Gavin yelled.

           “Trust me, it could have been a whole lot worse. Was there anything else?” Dakota asked.

           “Yeah, she tried to whisper something in my ear. But I ran like Hell before she could tell me.” Gavin confessed. Sam and Dakota activated their bitchfaces. A scream ripped its way through the asylum and Dakota, Sam, and Gavin ran towards it. As they got closer they also heard someone banging on a door and they found Dean with a crowbar trying to get a locked door open.

           “What happened?” Sam yelled over the noise.

           “Kat got grabbed by one of them.” Dean explained. Gavin began yelling Katherine’s name and trying to get to her, but the door stopped his efforts. That, and Sam grabbed him in his giant arms and moved him out of the way.

           “Kat, it’s not going to hurt you. You have to calm down and face it.” Dakota explained through the door. Dean gave her a look like she was crazy.

           “These spirits they aren’t trying to hurt us, they are trying to communicate. You have to face it and listen! It’s the only way you’re going to get out of there! Look at it, that’s all. You can do it!” Sam said.

After a few moments the door swung open and they saw Kat standing there in shock.

           “137. It whispered in my ear. 137.” Kat said in a quiet voice.

           “Room number.” Sam and Dean said at the same time.

           “Okay. So if these spirits aren’t trying to hurt anyone, then what are they trying to do?” Sam asked.

           “I guess we’re about to find out.” Said Dakota.

           “You two ready to get out of here?” Dean asked Gavin and Kat who both nodded. “You guys get them out of here, I’ll find room 137.” Dakota and Sam led the two teenager towards the front of the building.

           “So, how do you guys know about all this ghost stuff?” Kat asked.

           “It’s kinda our job.” Dakota said.

           “Why would anyone want a job like that?” Kat asked.

           “I had a crappy guidance counselor.” Sam said and Dakota laughed.

           “And Dean, he’s your boss?” Kat asked.

Dakota looked over at her with an offended look on her face and said, “No. I’m Dean’s boss.” They made it to the front of the hospital and found that all the door where locked.

           “We may have a small problem.” Dakota said.

           “Can’t we break it down? Or climb through a window?” Gavin asked.

           “The windows are barred and these doors are steel, they are meant to hold patience in.” Sam explained.

           “So, how do we get out?” Gavin asked.

           “We’re not, that’s the point. There’s something in here that doesn’t want us to leave.” Dakota said. Sam went to go look for another escape route while Dakota stayed with, who she referred to as, the kids. Sam came back unsuccessful in his mission and his phone started ringing, apparently Dean needed him in the basement for something.

           “Okay, Dakota, you stay here. I’m going to go get Dean.” Sam said.

           “What? No way, I’m coming with you, or better yet, you stay here and I’ll go after Dean.” Dakota snapped.

           “Kota, he needs help with something, we don’t know what. It could be fighting off a huge spirit or reaching something on the top shelf. It’s better if I go.” Sam said and he took off down the hall.

           “Really? Short jokes? You stupid Moose!” Dakota yelled.

           “Love you, Mouse!” She heard Sam yell back from around the corner he had just turned.

           “Either of you have siblings?” Dakota asked the kids and they shook their heads, “Lucky.” She muttered under her breath. They sat around for twenty minutes in almost complete silence.

           “Hey Gavin. If we get out of here alive, we’re so breaking up.” Kat said and Gavin hung his head.

           “Don’t worry, we’ll make it out of here.” Dakota said just as they heard a small crash and saw a shadow round the corner. “I might have spoken too soon.” Dean walked into the hallway and the small group let out a sigh of relief.

           “What are you guys still doing here?” Dean said as he walked up to them. “Where’s Sam?”

           “He went to the basement like to told him to when you called.” Dakota said

           “I didn’t call him.” Dean said confused.

           “Well his phone rang and I could hear your voice on the other end.” Dakota said.

           “Basement, huh? Okay, you two watch yourselves. Dakota, you’re coming with me.” Dean instructed. Dakota smiled and rushed to the basement with Dean to search for their missing brother.

           “Sammy. You down here?” Dean called out.

           “Sammy! Sam!” Dakota yelled. She peeked her head into one of the rooms, then she felt Dean jump next to her. When she looked back in the main hallway, Sam was standing right in front of them, staring. Dakota immediately knew something wasn’t right.

           “Damn it, Sam! Answer me when I’m calling you!” Dean exclaimed, holding his chest in shock.

           “You alright?” Dakota asked.

           “Yeah, I’m fine.” Sam answered.

           “You know that wasn’t me who called your cell, right?” Dean asked.

           “Yeah, I think something lured me down here.” Sam said.

           “And I know who. Dr. Ellicott. That’s what the spirits have been trying to tell us. You guys haven’t seen him have you?” Dean asked and Dakota and Sam shook their heads.

           “How do you know it was him?” Dakota asked.

           “I found his book. Apparently he was experimenting on patience. Some awful stuff. It makes lobotomies look like a couple of Aspirin.” Dean said.

           “But it was the patience who rioted.” Sam pointed out.

           “Yeah, but they were rioting against Dr. Ellicott. Dr. Feelgood was working on some extreme rage therapy. He thought that if he could get his patience to vent their anger it would cure them of it, but instead it only made them worse and worse and angrier and angrier. So I’m thinking, what if his spirit is doing the same thing to the cop, to the kids, making them so angry they become homicidal.” Dean explained.

           “Wow. That’s is brilliant! Nice one, Sherlock.” Dakota said.

Dean gave his signature cocky smile and said, “I know, Watson. Know common, we gotta find his bones and torch them.” Dakota followed Dean has he started walking down the hallway, but Sam stayed where he was.

           “How? The police never found his body.” Sam asked.

           “Well, the book said that Ellicott had a secret room down here where he would work on his patience.” Dean explained.

           “Yeah, if I was a patient I’d drag his ass down here and do a little work myself.” Dakota said.

           “I don’t know, that sounds kinda…” Sam started.

           “Crazy? Yeah I know.” Dean said looking in one of the rooms further down the hall. Sam still hadn’t moved from where he was standing when they first got there so Dakota placed herself in the middle of the hallway between the two. Dean nodded for them to follow him into the room and Sam finally started moving. There was nothing but steel walls inside.

           “I told you, I look everywhere and I didn’t find a hidden room.” Sam said.

           “Well, that’s why they call it hidden.” Dean pointed out.

Dakota thought she heard the sound of wind blowing, but that was impossible since they were in a basement. It was however possible that it was a draft coming from a secret room.

“Do you hear that?” Dakota asked. Sam shook his head, but Dean’s ears perked and he and Dakota followed the sound to one of the walls. They bent down to examine the crack at the bottom of the wall.

“Dean. Dakota.” Sam said calmly and they turned around and were met with their brother holding a shot gun to them. Sam’s nose started bleeding, something that Dakota had never seen happen unless he was hurt. “Step back from the door.”

They stood up and Dakota noticed that Dean had placed himself just a bit in front of her.

           “Sam, put the gun down.” Dean said.

           “Is that an order?” Sam asked.

           “I think it was more of a friendly request.” Dakota piped in.

           “I’m getting pretty tired of taking orders.” Sam said raiding the gun even more.

           “I knew something was wrong.” Dakota said.

           “Ellicott did something to you didn’t he?” Dean asked.

           “For once in your lives, shut your mouths!” Sam yelled.

           “What are you going to do Sam? The gun’s filled with rock salt. It’s not going to kill us.” Dean said.

Sam pulled the trigger on the gun and the rock salt spray managed to hit both of them sending them flying through the false door and into the hidden room. Because of the way Dean had been standing in front of her, Dakota was now shot and being crushed by her oldest brother and almost immediately blackout from the pain. She came to only a minute or so later, not bad from someone who just got shot by one brother and crushed by the other, and saw Sam standing over Dean who was laying a few feet to her right.

           “I mean, why are we even here? Cause you’re following Dad’s orders like a good little soldier? Are you that desperate for his approval?” Sam mocked.

           “God, knock me back unconscious. I can’t believe he’s possessed and we’re still having this fight.” Dakota muttered and Sam raised the gun to point at her without looking at her.

           “That’s the difference between you and me. I have a mind of my own. I’m not pathetic like you two are.” Sam sneered.

           “So what are you going to do? You gonna kill us?” Dean asked. Dakota was looking around for a weapon, but was in too much pain to do much more than lift her head and talk.

           “I am sick of doing what you tell me to do! We’re no closer to finding Dad today then we were six months ago.” Sam said. Then he turned to Dakota and said, “And you, you little whiny bitch! Do you honestly think you can block out all the world’s problems with head phones? Sooner or later you’re going to have to own up to your crap!”

Dakota knew it wasn’t her twin talking, but that didn’t make his words sting any less. She saw Dean reach into his jacket to grab something.

           “Here let me make it easier for you.” Dean said handing him a gun.

           “Um, De. Are you sure that’s the best idea?” Dakota asked.

           “Common! Take it! Real bullets are going to work a Hell of a lot better than rock salt.” Dean said and Sam grabbed the gun from his hand, dropping the shot gun. Dakota was way too far to grab it, but if Dean could work through the pain of being shot, she thought he might have a chance.

Sam looked at the gun in his hand then walked over to Dakota and held the gun to her head.

           “You really hate us that much? You would kill your own brother and baby sister?” Dean asked.

When Sam didn’t flinch Dakota said, “Go ahead. Pull the trigger.” Sam pulled the trigger and nothing happened. He pulled it several more times and Dakota and he looked at the gun in confusion. They were so busy studying the gun, that Dakota didn’t notice that Dean had gotten up until he was behind Sam about to tackle him. Dean punched Sam in the face sending him to the floor and then he helped Dakota up from her position on the ground. They wrapped their arms around each other for support and hobbled over to Sam.

           “Man, I’m not going to give you a loaded pistol.” Dean said then he let go of Dakota and hooked Sam in the jaw so hard he passed out.

           “Nice punch.” Dakota commented.

           “Thanks. You okay, Baby Girl? It’s not every day your twin shoots you and tries to kill you.” Dean said.

           “I’ll answer that after we burn the bones and get Sam back.” Dakota said. They staggered further into the hidden room which was much bigger than Dakota originally anticipated. They made it to the room that looks like where the operations would have been done and decided that was as good as any a place to start looking for Ellicott’s bones.

           “Hey. Watch my back.” Dean said and Dakota turned from where she was searching to see Dean kneeling in front of a cabinet with a dead body in it. Dakota went and stood facing the room while Dean began to salt the bones and watched him drop the lighter on to them.

           “Adios, Ellicott.” She heard Dean say behind her.

           “Common. Let’s go get Sam. Plus, I think those kids are still in her.” Dakota said.

They walked back into the main room to and saw Sam sitting up and rubbing his jaw.

           “You’re not going to try to kill us are you?” Dakota asked.

           “No.” Sam confirmed.

           “Good. Because that would be awkward.” Dean said. The three Winchesters slowly hobbled their way to the front of the asylum and found Kat and Gavin still sitting there. Dakota went and pushed one of the doors and found that it was unlocked. She sighed a breath of relief

           “Next time, don’t go hanging out in haunted asylums.” Dean warned the teens.

           “Thank you.” They both said and they climbed into their car and drove away leaving Sam, Dean, and Dakota on their own.

           “Hey, guys. I’m sorry. I said some really awful things back there.” Sam apologized.

           “You remember all that?” Dakota asked.

           “Yeah. It’s like I couldn’t control it, but I didn’t mean it! Any of it!” Sam said.

           “You didn’t, huh?” Dean asked.

           “No, of course not! Do we need to talk about it?” Sam asked.

           “I’m not really in the sharing and caring mode.” Dean said.

           “I just want to get some sleep.” Dakota confessed.

……….

Later that night, Dakota was woken from her spot on the couch by Dean’s phone ringing. She saw Sam lean over and grab it since it doesn’t look like Dean was waking up anytime soon.

Sam shot up in bed and Dakota looked at him in shock, wondering what had startled her brother so much.

           “Dad?” She heard Sam say and her eyes went wide.


	21. Scarecrow Part 1

Previously in Dakota Elizabeth Winchester:

_Later that night, Dakota was woken from her spot on the coach by Dean’s phone ringing. She saw Sam lean over and grab it since it doesn’t look like Dean was waking up anytime soon._

_Sam shot up in bed and Dakota looked at him in shock, wondering what had startled her brother so much._

_“Dad?” She heard Sam say and her eyes went wide_

……….

Dakota shot up in shock, unable to believe to her father actually calling them. She and her dad hadn’t spoken in a while, even before he went missing. After Sam left for Stanford, she, Dean, and their dad had stayed together for about six months before Dean went and started hunting on his own. Dakota and her dad had not gotten along ever since she had become a teenager, but the six months they spent together after Dean left was when the fighting really escalated. One night they had gotten into a huge fight that hadn’t ended well and Dakota left that very same night to go find Dean. She and Dean had been hunting together for two and a half years now, only meeting up with their dad every few weeks for a few days at a time.

She wasn’t sure that she wanted to talk to him now, but against her better judgement she jumped off her spot on the coach and rushed to sit next to Sam. He batted her hand away when she tried to take the phone, but held it out a little so she could hear if she leaned in.

           “Are you hurt?” Sam asked.

           “I’m fine.” Dakota heard John say.

           “We’ve been looking for you everywhere. We didn’t know where you were or if you were okay.” Dakota said.

           “Dakota, Baby, is that you?” John asked.

           “Yes, Sir.” Dakota answered.

           “Sammy, Kota, I’m alright. What about you two and Dean?” John asked. Dakota looked over and saw that Dean saw waking up.

           “We’re fine. Dad where are you?” Sam asked and Dakota saw Dean shoot up in his bed.

           “What? Why not?” Dakota asked.

           “Is that Dad?” Dean asked and Dakota nodded at him.

           “Look, I know this is hard, but you’re just going to have to trust me on this.” John told them.

           “You’re after it, aren’t you? The thing that killed Mom?” Sam asked.

           “Yeah, it’s a demon, Sam.” John said.

           “A demon? You know for sure?” Dakota asked.

           “A demon? What’s he saying?” Dean asked.

Dakota pulled herself away from the phone and said, “Dad found out it was a demon that killed Mom. He’s hunting it.” She pressed herself against the phone.

           “You know where it is?” Dakota asked.

           “Yeah, I think I’m closing in on it.” John said.

           “Let us help.” Sam pleaded.

           “You can’t. You can’t be any part of it.” John said.

           “Why not?” Sam asked and Dakota saw Dean reach over for the phone.

           “Listen Sammy, Kota, that’s why I’m calling. You two and your brother need to stop looking for me. Right now I need you to write down these names.” John explained.

           “Names. What names? Dad tell us what’s going on!” Sam demanded and Dakota rolled her eyes. They hadn’t spoken in four years and it took them a two-minute phone call to start fighting again.

           “Look! We don’t have time for this. This is bigger than you think, they’re everywhere!” John said.

           “No, alright. No way!” Sam said.

           “Sam! I’ve given you an order! Now you stop following me and take down these names!” John snapped just as Dean grabbed the phone from them, and not a moment too soon in Dakota’s opinion.

           “Dad? It’s me.” Dean said and Dakota watched as Dean’s back went ramrod straight and she counted to five in her head before Dean said, “Yes, Sir.” She knew her brothers so well that she knew from the first word spoken in a conversation between her dad and Sam, it took an average of two and half minutes for them to start fighting. From the moment Dean and her dad started talking, it took Dean an average of seven seconds to turn into the perfect soldier.

She flopped down on the bed dramatically when Dean started taking the names down and she could practically feel Sam’s eyeroll.

……….

They were in the Impala not twenty minutes later heading towards Burkitsville, Indiana. Dean was looking through the list of names their dad had given them while Sam drove. Dakota was lying out in the backseat in one of Sam’s old sweatshirts that was far too big on her.

           “So it looks like there are three couples who have gone missing. All from different states, going on cross-country roadtrip. Never reached their destination, never heard from again. They all went through the same part of Indiana on the second week in April. One after another, after another, for years.

           “Isn’t this the second week in April?” Dakota asked.

           “Yep.” Dean confirmed.

           “So, Dad’s sending us to Indiana, to hunt this thing before another couple vanishes?”

Sam asked.

           “Yahtzee.” Dean said. “Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? All the different obituaries Dad had to go through. The man’s a master.”

Dakota could see Sam’s jaw clenching and knew this trip would end in war. Sam jerked the car off to the side of the road and parked it.

           “What are you doing?” Dean asked.

           “We’re not going to Indiana.” Sam stated.

           “We’re not?” Dean asked.

           “We’re going to California. Dad called from a payphone, Sacramento area code.” Sam explained.

           “Sam.” Dean warned.

           “Can we wait to have this fight until the sun is up. It’s like four in the morning, how do y’all even have the energy to fight.” Dakota whined.

           “Kota’s right. This fight can wait, but right now, we’re going to Indiana.” Dean said.

           “This demon killed Mom and Jess and Dad’s closing in on it! We should be there!” Sam argued.

           “Sam, it’s taken 22 years. We’re not going to miss this fight if we go to Indiana for a few days. But I agree with you that we need to be a part of this fight.” Dakota negotiated.

           “Sam, Dad has given us an order!” Dean said.

           “I don’t care! We don’t always have to do what he says!” Sam complained.

           “Dad is sending us on jobs, to save lives. It’s important.” Dean argued.

           “No one is saying that it’s not important, Dean.” Dakota piped in.

           “I’m talking one week here. To get answers. To get revenge!” Sam said.

           “Look, I get you…” Dean started.

           “Do you? Do either of you?” Sam snapped. “How old were you when Mom died, Four? And Kota, you were an infant! Jess died six months ago. How the Hell would you know how I feel?” Sam asked.

           “Sam! You’re taking this too far!” Dakota said.

           “Dad said it was too dangerous, for any of us. He obviously knows something we don’t so if he tells us to stay away, we stay away!” Dean said.

           “I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man! It’s like you never question him!” Sam yelled.

           “Yeah, it’s called being a good son!” Dean snapped.

           “Both of you, knock it off. Throwing insults back and forth is not going to fix anything! Let’s do the job in Indiana as fast as we can, then go to California to find Dad.” Dakota suggested. Sam just glared at her then got out of the car, slamming the door closed as he did. Dean climbed out just as equal angry, leaving Dakota in the backseat to wonder why the boys insisted on fighting when they could just listen to her brilliant idea. She hears the trunk pop open and realized Sam was actually leaving.

She got out of the car and saw Sam walking down the street and heard Dean yelling, “I will leave your ass! You hear me?”

           “Sammy, common! We just got you back! Please don’t leave again!” Dakota pleaded and she saw Sam stop walking for a moment then he turned his head over his shoulder to look at her. Dean slammed the trunk and got into the driver’s seat.

           “I’ll see you later, Bug. But for now, you should go with Dean.” Sam called and then he kept walking leaving a devastated Dakota behind. She slowly walked to the passenger seat and climbed in. She put her headphones in and stared out the window as they drove, pulling her knees up to her chest, not wanting to deal with Dean and also not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes.

……….

Dean and Dakota made it to Indiana three completely silent hours later. Dean parked the car on one of the tiny town’s streets and Dakota sent a quick text to Sam letting him know they had made it and asking if he was alright. They got out of the Impala and walked over to Scotty’s Café where man was sitting in a chair in front of the store.

           “Let me guess, you’re Scotty?” Dean asked, the man nodded, “HI, my name is John Bonham and this is…”

           “Isn’t that the drummer from Led Zeppelin?” Scotty asked.

           “Wow. Classic rock fan. Well as John here was saying, I’m Stevie Nicks. It’s nice to meet you.” Dakota said.

           “What can I do for you, John and Stevie?” Scotty asked.

“We were wondering if you had seen these people?” Dakota asked and Dean reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the missing fliers.

           “Nope. Who are they?” Scotty asked.

           “Friends of ours who went missing about a year ago around here. I’ve already asked around a few nearby towns…” Dean explained.

           “Sorry. We don’t get many strangers around here.” Scotty said cutting Dean off again

           “Scotty, you’ve got a smile that lights up a room, anyone ever tell you that?” Dean said sarcastically to the frowning man.

Dean and Dakota went to another store across the street, but the old couple who ran it said they had never seen them before. A young blond woman carrying a stack of boxes down the stairs overheard their conversation.

           “Did the guy have a tattoo?” She asked. Dakota handed her the fliers.

           “Don’t you remember? They were just married.” The girl said to the older man.

           “You know what, you’re right. They did stop for gas. Weren’t here for ten minutes.” The man recalled.

           “Do you remember anything else?” Dean asked

           “Told them how to get to the Interstate. They left town.” He said.

           “Do you think you could point us in that direction?” Dakota asked

The man gave them the directions and the two got into the Impala and started driving that way. A strange noise came from the backseat of the car. Dakota turned around in her seat and started going through the duffle bag that Dean had tossed in back. She found the source of the noise, it was her and Dean’s EMF readers which were going off the charts with their readings.

           “Pull over!” Dakota snapped and Dean followed her directions. They got out and walked into an apple orchard and started walking around. Even though they were in the middle of a case, Dakota couldn’t help but notice how beautiful it was in the orchard. All the leaves changing colors, the barrels of apples all around them, the peace and quiet. They kept walking until they stopped a scarecrow.

           “Dude you fugly.” Dean said to it.

           “It’s a scarecrow, stupid. It’s not supposed to look nice. Although, yes, this one is incredibly fugly.” Dakota sassed.

           “What’s that on it’s arm?” Dean asked. Dakota stood on her toes and craned her head, but couldn’t get a good view of it. Dean walked away and came back with a ladder which e then climbed to inspect the arm.

           “Nice tatt.” Dean said to the scarecrow.

           “Dean, you can’t call it fugly then praise it’s ink.” Dakota said.

           “It’s wearing Vince’s tattoo.” Dean pointed out.

           “Oh, well then, as you were.” Dakota said.

They went back into town and stopped at the gas station and saw the young blond woman who had helped them earlier.

           “You’re back.” She stated.

           “Never left.” Dean replied.

           “Still looking for your friends?” She asked.

           “Mind filling it up, Emily?” Dean said and Emily started filling the gas tank.

           “So, did you grow up here?” Dakota asked her.

           “I came here when I was thirteen. I lost my parents in a car accident. My aunt and uncle took me in. Everyone is so nice here.” Emily explained.

           “So, what? It’s the perfect little town?” Dean asked.

           “Well, ya know, it’s the boonies, but I love it. I mean, the towns around us everyone is losing their homes, their farms, but here, it’s like we’re blessed.” Emily said.

           “Hey have you been out to the orchard and seen that scarecrow?” Dakota asked.

           “Yeah, it creeps me out.” Emily confessed.

           “Same here. Do you know who’s it is?” Dakota asked.

           “It’s always been there.” Emily said.

           “Nice car. Is that your aunt and uncles?” Dean asked nodding to the standard car sitting in the gas station.

           “Customer. Had some car troubles.” Emily explained. Dakota shot Dean a knowing look; they decided to go back to the dinner and see if the couple was there.

They walked into the dinner and saw a young couple sitting at a table, eating

           “Hey, Scotty. Can we get two coffees?” Dakota asked politely as they grabbed a table next to the couple. Scotty glared at her, but went to the kitchen to grab their order.

           “Oh! And two slices of pie!” Dean called out. Dakota looked at the table next to them and saw that the two strangers were eating apple pie. Dakota wasn’t an apple girl, but she loved apple pie. They were two completely different things in her mind.

           “How ya doing? Just passing through?” Dean asked the couple.

           “Yep. Roadtrip.” The girl confirmed.

           “Oh, us too.” Dakota said and Dean threw her an annoyed look. He hated when their cover was any kind of couple, but in this case Dakota thought it was necessary. “What brings you to town?”

           “We just stopped for gas. The guy at the gas station saved our lives.” The woman replied.

           “Yeah, one of our break lines was broken. We had no idea! He’s fixing it for us. We’ll be back on the road by sundown.” The man sitting across from her told them.

           “Sundown? To fix a break line? Ya know, I know a thing or two about cars and I can have you up and running in an hour no charge.” Dean said.

           “It’s true! Dean here is amazing with cars.” Dakota piped in, trying to help.

           “That’s very sweet, but I think we’d rather have a mechanic do it.” The woman said.

           “Thanks for coming, Sheriff.” Scotty called out, snapping all four customers out of their conversation. Dakota looked at the man confused as he approached their table.

           “Ma’am, Sir. May I have a word?” the sheriff asked.


	22. Scarecrow Part 2

Dakota and Dean found themselves in the Impala with a police car literally driving them out of the town. Once the cop car had decided they were far enough from the town and left them, Dean pulled off the road and into an area covered in trees.

           “Um…whatcha doing?” Dakota asked as Dean climbed out of the car and closed the door behind him. “Or ignore me, that’s cool too.” Dakota said to herself before she hauled herself out of the car and repeated her question. Dean answered her from where he stood at the open trunk of the car.

           “Those people are still going to get attacked tonight. So we’re going to leave Baby here and go back there on foot. Grab your duffle and whatever weapons you need and let’s go!” Dean said and he started walking away.

Dakota looked at the Impala then at Dean’s retreating form and asked, “But, we’re going to leave Baby stranded out here? All alone?” She watched as Dean froze for a moment and his shoulders tensed up. He turned back to the Impala and lovingly ran a hand over her hood then looked at Dakota and nodded. Dakota stood frozen in shock that her brother could leave his most prized possession behind before following him. 

They walked in silence, which Dakota was extremely thankful for. She had had a lot on her mind for the last month and was glad to have time to process it. She thought of everything from her and Sam’s strange powers, if their dad was okay, their visit to their old home and seeing her mother’s ghost, and now Sam leaving them again. She was so happy for Sam when he got out of this life and went to college, she envied him for it, but above all she missed her twin brother and him leaving again brought all those emotions back full force.

They made it to the apple orchard after sun down and heard two sets of screams coming from the area. They dropped their bags and grabbed their guns before charging in to the orchard. They found the young couple from earlier running hand in hand.

           “Get back to your car!” Dean yelled and the couple did as instructed. A very fugly, very angry scarecrow rounded one of the trees hold a strange looking knife. Dean and Dakota shot at it, but it didn’t slow down. They took off running, stopping when they reached the couple’s car.

           “What was that?” The man asked.

           “Don’t ask.” Dakota answered hold her shotgun up, waiting for the scarecrow to show it’s face…or whatever it had.

……….

They got the young couple’s car fixed and sent them on their way before making the trek back to the Impala. Half way through the walk Dakota had turned on her best puppy dog eyes and starred at Dean. They knew each other so well at this point that she didn’t even need to voice her request. Dean sighed and walked in front of Dakota and bent down slightly so she could climb onto his back.

           After a few more minutes of silence Dakota said, “Dean, I think it’s time.”

           “Time for what?” Dean asked over his shoulder.

           “Time to call Sam.” She answered, she could tell Dean go to protest and cut him off before he could get the words out, “I know you don’t want to, but we have no idea what we are up against! A fresh set of eyes might do us some good.” Dean sighed and put Dakota back down on the ground so he could grab his phone.

           The three talked and quickly figured out they were dealing with a pagan god. Sam found them the number of a local community college and Dakota called to set up an appointment with a professor there while her brothers worked out their issues with each other. Or at least tried to, the three of them had so many issues and baggage there was no way to fix it all in a phone call, but at least they could fix their last fight.

Dakota walked back over to Dean and asked, “So, did you two work everything out?” Dean looked up at her and quirked his mouth into a half smile, but Dakota could see the sadness in his eyes and could feel the angst rolling off of him. Without a word they both climbed into the car and started the trip to the community college.

……….

Dakota looked around the campus at the students rushing to and from classes and for a moment, she envied them. Although she wasn’t in school, there was a time when she was in high school that she had seriously considered college and was thinking of majoring in mythology with an emphasis in lore. She even got a full ride to her top choice, Kansas University, but when Sam got his letter with a full ride from Stanford she had lied and said she didn’t get in. She knew only one of them would be able to go, and even then their dad would be furious and a full ride to Stanford was far more impressive in Dakota’s mind. Besides, Sam actually wanted to do something with his degree while Dakota would have probably just used her to aid in hunting.

           “It’s not every day I get a question about pagan mythology.” The professor said leading them down a flight of stairs to his office.

           “Yeah, call it a hobby.” Dean said.

           “But, you said you were interested in local lore? Indiana isn’t exactly known for it’s pagan worship.” The professor said.

           “Well, what if it was imported? Wasn’t a lot of this area settled by immigrants? Maybe they brought their religion over?” Dakota suggested.

           “Yes, most of the towns in this area have Northern European, Scandinavian, ancestors.” The professor told them.

           “What can you tell us about those gods?” Dean asked.

The professor let out a small laugh, “Well, there are hundreds of Norse gods and goddesses.” He explained.

           “Actually, we’re only interested in one. It might live in an orchard.” Dakota said. The professor led them into his office and went over to the bookshelf where he grabbed a massive book on the various gods. He put it down on his desk and the three began looking threw it.

           “Hang on, what’s that?” Dean said pointing to a picture of a man hung up like a scarecrow in a field.

           “Well, that’s not a Norse woods god, per say.” The professor began to explain.

           “‘The Vanir were Norse gods of protection and prosperity watching over all the local villages. Many villages practiced human sacrifice, one male and one female. The villages believed it’s power came from a sacred tree.’” Dakota read from the book.

           “The pagans believed all sorts of things were infused with magic.” The professor explained.

           “So, what would happen if the scared tree was torched? Do you think it would kill the god?” Dean asked. Dakota mentally face-palmed at her brother’s unexplainable way of making them sound like psychopaths with every question he asked.

The professor chuckled, “These are just legends we’re discussing here.”

           “Of course. Thank you very much for your time, but we really need to get going.” Dean and Dakota started walking out of the room. Dean opened the door and Dakota saw a man hit him in the face with the butt of his gun. Dakota started to reach for hers when she felt something come down on her head, and everything went black.

……….

           “Hey, Kota. Come one Baby Girl. Wake up.” A distant voice said. Dakota scrunched her face up as the person talking nudged her shoulder. Reluctantly she opened her eyes and was met with darkness.

           “Dean?” She asked in a whisper, in case there was anything else unfriendly there.

           “Yeah, it is me. They’ve got us in some kinda cellar. I think they are planning on using us for the sacrifice.” Dean explained.

The cellar door above them opened up and Dakota squinted against the sudden light as Emily was forced down into the cellar.

           “Aunt Stacy, Uncle Harley! Why are you doing this?” Emily sobbed.

           “For the common good.” Stacy explained. Dakota would have rolled her eyes if the situation had not been so grave. Stacy and Harley closed the door, plunging them back into darkness.

           “I don’t understand. They’re going to kill us?” Emily asked in a shaky voice and Dakota went to wrap an arm around the girl’s shoulders.

           “Sacrifice us. Which is, I don’t know, classier, I guess.” Dean clarified.

           “You really didn’t know anything about this, did you?” Dakota asked.

           “About what, the ‘scarecrow god’?” Emily asked sassily. “I can’t believe this.”

           “Look, we need your help. We can kill the scarecrow, but first we have to find the tree. It would be really old; the locals would treat it with a lot of respect. Like it was sacred.” Dean explained.

           “There is this one tree that the immigrants brought over. They call it ‘the first tree’. It’s somewhere in the orchard, but I don’t know where.” Emily said.

           “Shh! Did you guys hear that?” Dakota asked. Everyone went silent, then suddenly the cellar door was flung open and several of the towns people stood at the opening with guns.

The dragged the three out into the orchard and began tying their hands up above their heads.

           “I don’t understand, the sacrifice only calls for one male and one female. Why would you kill one of your own?” Dakota asked the man tying her up.

           “We’ve never waited this long to give a sacrifice before. We don’t want to make it angry. Two is better than one.” He explained before smacking her across the face and walking away. Dakota quickly wiped her bloody lip on her jacket, hoping Dean wouldn’t notice. He always flipped out and forgot what was really important when she and Sam got hurt.

As the towns people started walking away from them Dean yelled out, “I hope your apple pie was freakin’ worth it!”

           “I told you apples were evil, evil fruits.” Dakota said.

           “And yet, you still eat them in pie form.”

           “That’s because apples and apple pie and two completely different things!”

           “Hey, guys? Is now really the best time to be fighting over this?” Emily called for her spot on Dean’s left. Dakota and Dean looked down sheepishly. “So, what’s the plan?”

           “I’m working on it.” Dean said

After two hours Dakota’s arms were killing her and her butt was sore from sitting on the ground for so long.

           “You don’t have a plan, do you?” Emily asked.

           “Hey, if he says he’s working on it, then there’s a pretty good chance he’s working on it and not stalling!” Dakota snapped.

           “Knock it off! Can you see anything?” Dean asked her. She turned her head as much as she could, but couldn’t make out the scarecrow. The sound of footsteps broke the silence and all three frozen where they were. Dakota tried reaching out to feel the emotions of the person approaching, to see if they were sending an angry, murderous vibe, but picked up nothing. Then her eyes went wide, there was only one person whose emotion she couldn’t read!

           “Dean? Kota?” Sam’s voice called out and Dakota and Dean both let out audible sighs.

           “I take back everything I said. I am so happy to see you!” Dean said.

           “What did you say to him that you need to take back?” Dakota asked.

           “Nothing!” The boys said quickly and together. Sam continued to untie Dean’s hands.

Dakota narrowed her eyes at them then asked, “Wait, how did you get here?”

           “I…um…stole a car.” Sam confessed and Dakota smiled at her twin.

Dean let out a laugh, “That’s my boy!” Dean stood up and walked over to Emily while Sam went to help Dakota cut her hands free.

“Keep an eye on that scarecrow. It could come alive at any minute.” Dakota said.

“What scarecrow?” Sam asked. Dakota sprang up and looked to behind the tree she had been tied to only to find an empty post.

           “Shit.” She whispered.

Dean finished cutting Emily’s bonds and the four of them took off running through the orchard.

           “Common. We gotta find the tree. It’s the source of it’s power.” Dakota explained to Sam.

           “Well then, let’s find it and burn it!” Sam said.

           “In the morning. For now let’s shag ass before leather face catches up.” Dean said.

Out of nowhere a bright light was shining in their faces. One the light was lowered they saw that it was the town’s people with their guns, forcing them back further into the orchard. Growling started in the distance and the Sam, Dean, Dakota, and Emily gathered together.

           “Please, just let us go.” Emily begged.

           “Emily, you have to understand…” Harley started before the scarecrows curved knife was plunged into his back. Emily screamed and buried her face in Dean’s jacket as the scarecrow dragged Stacy and Harley away. The Winchesters and Emily took off and quickly made it to the edge of the orchard. They could still hear the screaming and growling from a distance.

……….

They came back early the next morning to find ‘the first tree’ and burn it. Sam and Dakota began pouring gasoline onto the tree while Dean made a torch. They walked over to him and right as he was about to put the fire to the tree, Emily stopped him.

           “Let me.” She pleaded and Dean handed over the torch.

After a few satisfying moments of watching the tree go up in flames, Dean, Sam, and Dakota walked Emily to the bus station and watched her drive away.

           “Do you think she will be okay?” Sam asked.

           “I hope so.” Dean said.

           “I just hate that the rest of the people in town are going to get away with it.” Dakota confessed. Dean nodded before turning to Sam.

           “Am I dropping you off somewhere?” Dean asked.

           “Nope. I think you’re stuck with me.’ Sam said and Dakota gave her brother a side hug as they walked back to the Impala.

           “What made you change your mind?” Dean asked once Dakota and Sam were done hugging.

           “Nothing. I still want to find Dad. You two are still a pain in the ass.” Sam said and Dakota pinched his side. “But Jess and Mom, they’re gone. Dad is God knows where. The three of us- we’re all that’s left. So, if we’re going to see this through, we’re going to do it together.”

           “Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful.” Dean teased and he went to put a hand on Sam’s shoulder, but Sam batted it away.

           “Y’all are jackasses!” Dakota said. Dean laughed and started walking towards the driver side door.

           “You should be kissing my ass! You two were dead back there!” Sam said.

           “Yeah, yeah.” Dean and Dakota said and they all climbed into the Impala and drove off.


	23. Faith Part 1

The Impala rolled up in front of the creepy, abandoned house. Sam, Dean, and Dakota climbed out of the car and quickly made their way to the trunk where Dean grabbed three Taser guns.

           “What do you got those amped up to?” Sam asked.

           “100,000 volts.” Dean replied handing the guns out.

           “Holy crap!” Dakota said upon hearing the number.

           “Yeah, I want this rawhead extra freakin’ crispy. Remember, we only get one shot with these things so make it count.” Dean told them.

           “Gee, thanks for the reminder. It’s not like I’ve been doing this my whole life. I had no idea you only get one shot!” Dakota mocked. Dean gave her a fairly good bitchface, but in Dakota’s mind no bitchface would be as strong as Sam’s.

They went into the house, flashlights and Taser guns drawn, and made their way quickly and quietly down the stairs. As soon as they entered the basement, a cabinet off to the side started shaking.

           “On three.” Dean whispers, “1…2…3!” And they threw the doors open and found the two missing children, a brother and sister, the rawhead had taken sitting on the bottom on the cabinet.

           “Is it still here?” Sam asked the terrified children who nodded.

           “Okay, grab your sister’s hand and Dakota here is going to get you out.” Dean said and Dakota glared at him. She had no problem helping the kids, the truth is she loved children, but Dean and Sam always sent her outside whenever there were civilians involved. They claimed it was because it she was smaller and a women and therefore less intimidating, but she knew it was because they didn’t want her getting hurt. It was a sweet sentiment, but it always made her feel like her brothers doubted her skills as a hunter.

Dakota knew that keeping these kids safe was more important than fighting her brothers on her assigned roll so she grabbed the little boys hand and picked up the little girl, placing her on her hip, and ran them upstairs and out of the house. As soon as the kids were in the back of the Impala, Dakota ran back into the house to help her brothers.

She had barely stepped foot in the front doorway when she heard Sam scream, “Dean! Dakota, get down here! Dean’s hurt!”

Dakota ran downstairs at break neck speed, almost tripping over the corpse of the rawhead in the process of finding her brothers.

           “Is he okay?” Dakota asked before she realized how stupid the question was, but she was in too much shock to care.

Sam picked up Dean and carried him to the back of the Impala. Dakota ushered the kids to sit on the bench seat up front with her as she started the car and took off to the hospital.

……….

Dakota sat in the waiting room, twirling her necklace around her finger and worrying about Dean, while Sam dealt with filling out the forms. When the doctor walked in she immediately stood up and briskly walked over to stand by Sam.

           “How is he?” Sam asked.

           “He’s resting. The electrocution triggered a heart attack. It was pretty massive, I’m afraid; the heart is damaged.” The doctor replied. Dakota closed her eyes to stop the tears from forming. Now was not the time for tears, it was the time for coming up with a plan.

           “How damaged?” Dakota asked.

           “We’ve done all we can. We can try and keep him comfortable, at this point. But I give him a couple weeks at most, maybe a month.” The doctor informed them.

Dakota’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped, “What? No! There must be some mistake!” She said, now unable to stop the tears forming in her eyes. And to make matters worse, everything she said today sounded straight out of some crappy soap opera.

           “There must be something you can do? Some kind of treatment?” Sam asked and Dakota saw that there were tears in his eyes as well.

           “We can’t work miracles. I really am sorry.” The doctor said and Sam nodded before taking off towards Dean’s room with Dakota hot on his heels. The twins burst into the room and found a very pale Dean sitting up in bed watching TV.

           “You ever actually watch daytime TV? It’s terrible.” Dean said trying to lighten the mood, but Dakota didn’t think anything could make her smile when her brother was in a hospital bed with wires all over him, pale, skin, bags under his eyes, and a rough voice that made it sound like he was straining to speak.

           “We talked to your doctor…” Sam stated and Dakota looked over and saw that Sam’s puppy dog eyes were full of tears and his cheeks were wet.

           “That fabric softener teddy bear, oh, I wanna hunt that bitch down.” Dean interrupted.

           “Dean,” Dakota said in a serious tone.

           “Yeah? Alright, looks like you guy are going to be leaving town without me.” Dean said sounding very much like he had excepted his fate. Dakota went and sat on the chair next to his bed and drew her legs up to her chest.

           “What are you talking about? We’re not going to leave you here.” Sam said.

           “Hey! You two better take care on my car or I swear I’m going to haunt your asses.” Dean threatened.

           “I don’t think that’s funny.” Sam said as tears wet his cheeks.

           “Common, it’s a little funny. Right Baby Girl? Common give me a smile.” Dean said to Dakota and she gave him a weak smile as a tear slipped down her face. Dean reached over and grabbed one of her hands.

           “Look guys, what can I say. It’s a dangerous gig and I drew the short straw. End of story.” Dean said.

           “Don’t say that, De!” Dakota snapped.

           “Yeah, we’ve still got options.” Sam said.

           “What options, Sammy? You got burial or cremation. I know it’s not easy, but I’m gonna die and you can’t stop it.” Dean said.

           “Watch me!” Sam said and he stormed out of the room. A few more tears trickled down Dakota’s face.

           “Common now, Sweetheart. No need for tears.” Dean said.

           “You said you wouldn’t leave. Mom died, Sam left, Dad left, but you p…p…promised you wouldn’t leave. It’s not fair! And…and I know I’m acting childish by making this all about me when you’re the one dying, b…but I don’t care, you don’t get to leave me, Dean! You’ve been there for everything, my first steps, first words, first hunt, first date, y…you’re my big brother and I…I don’t want to lose you!” Dakota sobbed. Dean reached his arms out to her and she looked up and saw that he had tears in his eyes. She flew into his embrace and stayed there crying her eyes out.

Dakota hated that she was crying. She hated feeling weak, growing up with two older brothers had always made her try and act as tough as she could so she could fit in with them and yet her she was blubbering like a little kid. She didn’t even feel like she had a right to cry; Dean was the one who was dying and yet he was the one holding her, rubbing her arms, and humming to her like he used to do when she was a little girl.

……….

After an hour or so, Sam came back into the room and told Dakota he had gotten them a motel room. Dean forced her to go back to the room and rest for a while. Dakota passed out of the bed, emotional and physically exhausted from the hunt and Dean’s health. She and Sam spent the next three days searching through every website and book looking for anything to save Dean. Dakota was laying on her back on one of the beds with her feet against the headboard and the book she was reading on her face.

           “Is that an effective method of reading?” Sam teased from the kitchen table.

           “Shut up.” She grumbled. Someone knocked on the door and Sam went to answer it while Dakota removed the book from her face to see who dare disturb them.

           “What the Hell are you doing here!?” She heard Sam ask, but couldn’t see who it was with Sam’s moose body in the way.

           “I checked myself out.” She heard Dean’s voice respond and Dakota shot up in the bed.

           “Are you insane?” Dakota asked him once he walked into the motel room. Sam grabbed Dean by the shoulders and helped him sit on the bed. Dean looked pitiful, wrapped up in a hoodie instead of his normal leather jacket, big dark bags under his green eyes that seemed to have dulled in color, and his pale white skin.

           “Well, I’m not going to die in a hospital where the nurses aren’t even hot.” Dean shrugged.

           “Ya know, this whole ‘I laugh in the face of death’ thing is crap, I can see right through it.” Sam said.

           “Ya, whatever.” Dean said. Dakota didn’t want to upset Dean, but she had been able to feel his fear from the minute she walked into his hospital room, but if he wanted to act like everything was fine then who was she to deny him that.

           “Have you two even slept, you look worse than me.” Dean joked.

           “We’ve been scouring the internet for three days and calling all of Dad’s contacts looking for a way to help you” Sam confessed as he leaned up against the table in the kitchen area of the motel room.

           “One of Dad’s friends, Joshua, called us back and told us about this guy in Nebraska. A specialist.” Dakota continued.

           “You’re not going to let me die in peace, are you?” Dean asked them and Dakota shook her head.

           “We’re not going to let you die, period. We’re going.” Sam said and with that they started packing to leave.

………

It was a series of unfortunate events that led to Dakota sitting shot gun while Sam drove and Dean had the back bench to himself. Although part of her loved being back in the front seat, she wished it had been better circumstances that allowed it. Dakota had her headphones in and was listening to “Killed by Death” by Motorhead when they reached the tiny town in Nebraska.  

They got out of the car and Dean slammed the door as hard as he could, which wasn’t very hard in his current state and said, “Man, you guys are lying bastards! You said we were going to see a doctor!”

           “I believe I said, ‘a specialist’” Sam said as he started walking towards the tent.

           “Nice loophole. You would’ve made a hell of a lawyer.” Dakota praised.

           “I can’t believe you brought me here to see some guy who heals people out of a tent!” Dean whined.

           “Maybe it’s time to have a little faith, Dean.” Dakota suggested.

           “Ya know what I got faith in? Reality. Knowing what’s really going on.” Dean said.

           “How can you be a skeptic with the things we see every day?” Sam asked.

           “Exactly! We see them! We know they’re real.” Dean argued.

           “But if you know evil is out there, how can you not believe good’s out there too?” Dakota questioned.

           “Because I’ve seen what evil does to good people!” Dean said.

           “Maybe God works in mysterious ways.” A quite voice from behind them said. They stopped walking, turned and saw a young, blond woman with a soft smile holding an umbrella. Dakota hadn’t even noticed that it had begun to lightly rain on them.

           “Maybe he does. I think you just turned me around on the subject. I’m Dean, this is Sam and Dakota.” Dean said smoothly. Honestly, the man was dying and he was still flirting!

“Layla.” The girl introduced herself.  Dakota excused herself from the conversation and went to find a seat inside. She found three seats next to each other in the second row and sat down throwing her jacket over two of them to hold her brother’s spots.

She turned in her seat and saw her brothers walking in, Sam supporting Dean by his shoulders and Dean attempting to bat Sam’s hand away. They took their seats as, who Dakota assumed was Rev. Roy Le Grange, began his sermon. He was only a few inches taller than Dakota, with bright white hair and sunglasses on.

The reverend began his sermon about how wonderful God was and how it was God who helped him chose who to help by helping him see into their hearts.

           “Yeah, or into their wallets.” Dean muttered under his breath and Dakota cracked a smile, trying not to laugh. Sam, who was sitting in the middle, elbowed both his siblings.

           “You think so young man?” Rev. Roy asked.

           “Sorry.” Dean apologized.

           “No. Don’t be. Just watch what you say around a blind man, we got real sharp ears.” Everyone in the tent laughed at the reverends joke.

Reverend Roy invited Dean to join him up on the stage. Dean protested, but Sam and Dakota practically shoved him out of his seat and up to the stage. Roy placed his hand on Dean’s head and asked everyone to pray with them. Dean dropped to his knees, Roy’s hand still on his head and Dakota started to stand up to see if Dean was in trouble, but Sam grabbed her arm, his intense hazel eyes never leaving Dean. Dean collapsed to the ground and everyone started cheering; Dakota shook off Sam’s hand and ran up to the stage with Sam following close behind her. She instantly noticed that Dean had more color to him then he did when he first entered the tent and the bruises under his eyes were gone.

……….

Dakota and Sam took Dean to a doctor’s office in town to see if Reverend Roy had truly healed him.

           “So, you really feel fine?” Sam asked.

           “I feel fine Sam.” Dean said looking straight ahead. There was something in his voice that Dakota couldn’t pinpoint. It was flat, there were no emotions in it.

The doctor walked back into the room and told them not only was Dean’s heart fine, but it looked like there had never been any damage to it. The doctor turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway and said, “It’s strange. Just yesterday a 27-year-old, athletic just like you, died from a heart attack, out of nowhere.” Then she smiled and walked out the door.

           “I don’t suppose we could just count that as a super weird coincidence and leave now? Just say that people’s hearts randomly give out all the time?” Dakota asked already knowing the answer.

           “No, they don’t.” Dean said.

           “Look Dean. Do we really need to look this one in the mouth? Why can’t we just be thankful the guy saved your live and leave town?” Sam asked.

           “Because I can’t shake this feeling. When I was healed, I just felt…wrong. I was cold and for a second I saw this old man.” Dean said.

           “But if something was there was something there, don’t you think we would have seen it?” Dakota asked.

           “Yeah Dean, we’ve been seeing an awful lot of stuff lately.” Sam continued.

           “Well excuse me psychic wonders! You guys are just going to need a little faith on this one.” Dean snapped. Dakota shot him a bitchface for bringing up the whole psychic thing and even though she was standing in front of Sam and couldn’t see his face, she could feel the power of his bitchface radiating. “Guys, I’ve been hunting long enough to trust a feeling like this.” Dean continued.

           “Okay, so what do you wanna do?” Sam asked.

           “You two go check out the heart attack guy, I’m going to go visit the reverend.” Dean answered and then he walked out of the doctor’s office without another word or glance at the twins.

……….

Sam and Dakota went to the gym “heart attack guy”, or Marshall as he was called by his friends, used to go to and asked several staff members and club members about the man. All told them the same story: very healthy, worked out every day, didn’t smoke, but nothing useful to the case.

           “He was out running right before he collapsed. He was freaking out! Said something was chasing him. But there was nothing there.” One man told them. They thanked him and began to walk up the stairs to leave when Dakota noticed something.

           “Hey, just so you know, your clock is broken.” She pointed out.

           “Yeah, we can’t get it working. It just froze at 4:17” the man said.

           “Was that the same time Marshall died?” Sam asked and the man nodded. Dakota was confused on why that was significant to Sam, then she realized that was the exact same time that Dean was healed.


	24. Faith part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult.

Sam was sitting at the kitchen table on his laptop and Dakota was laying on one of the motel beds flipping through some articles Sam had printed when Dean walked into the room and threw his jacket onto one of the beds. Dakota put the papers down and went to stand with him and Sam, she knew Dean was already feeling guilty about getting healed and what they were about to tell him would only make it worse.

           “I’m sorry.” Sam whispered. When Dean looked confused he elaborated, “Marshall Hall died at 4:17, the exact same time you were healed.”

           “So, we, well Sam, has been putting together a list of everyone Roy has healed in the last year, six people, and crosschecking them with the local obits.”

           “Each time someone was healed, someone else died. And each time the victim died of the same symptoms Le Grange was healing was healing at the time.” Sam continued.

           “So, every time someone is healed of cancer someone else dies of cancer?” Dean asked.

           “Somehow, Le Grange is trading one life for another.” Dakota explained.

           “Wait, so Marshall Hall died to save me?” Dean asked. Dakota knew this was coming and had tried to put off answering it. Dean had this amazing talent of taking the blame for everything bad that has ever happened in the world, but Dakota knew he would take this information especially hard.

           “Dean, the guy probably would have died anyways, and someone else would have been healed.” Sam tried to justify.

           “You never should have brought me here.” Dean said and he started pacing the room.

           “We were just trying to save your life.” Dakota said in a small voice. She felt terrible and her eyes started to well with tears, but she quickly forced them back down.

           “Yeah, but Sam, Dakota, some guy is dead now because of me!” Dean raised his voice

           “We didn’t know.” Sam said and Dakota saw that Sam had a few tears in his eyes. They both hated letting their big brother down, he had done everything for them and now they had hurt him.

           “The thing I don’t understand is how is Roy doing it? How is he trading a life for a life?” Dakota asked desperately trying to change the subject.

           “Oh, he’s not doing it something else is doing it for him. The old man I saw on stage, I didn’t want to believe it. There’s only one thing that can give and take life like that. We’re dealing with a reaper.” Dean said and Dakota’s eyes went wide.

The Winchesters were sitting around the table in their motel room pouring over Sam’s laptop, their dad’s journal, the books they had on hand, looking for anything they could find about reapers.

           “You really thing we’re dealing with _the_ grim reaper?” Sam asked.

           “Yeah, like angle of death, collect your souls, grim reaper?” Dakota asked.

           “No. Not _the_ reaper, _a_ reaper. There’s reaper lore in almost every culture on earth. They go by a hundred different names, it’s possible there’s more than one of them.” Dean explained.

           “But you said you saw a dude in a suit.” Dakota said.

           “What, you think he should have been working the whole black robe thing?” Dean asked sassily.

           “Little bit, yeah.” Dakota sassed back leaning back in her chair.

           “Sam, you said that the clock stopped. Reapers stop time.” Dean said showing them a paper he had printed. “And you can only see it when it’s coming at you which is why I could see it and you two couldn’t. There’s nothing else it could be! The question is, how is Roy controlling the damn thing!”

           “The cross…” Sam whispered to himself.

           “What cross?” Dean asked, when Sam didn’t answer he turned his attention to Dakota. “Do you know what he’s talking bout?”

           “Nope.” Dakota said as she watched Sam shuffle through the papers on the table. He finally found what he was looking for, a deck of tarot cards.

He held out a card that had a cross in the background and said, “I knew I recognized that cross from somewhere.”

           “Tarot?” Dean questioned.

           “It makes sense. Tarot dates back to the early Christian era when priest were still using magic and some of them veered into the dark stuff.” Sam explained.

           “Yeah, like necromancy, how to prevent death, hoe to bring it, stuff like that, right?” Dakota asked leaning forward onto her elbows.

           “Exactly.” Sam confirmed

           “So, Roy is using black magic to bind the reaper?” Dean asked.

           “If he is, he’s riding the whirlwind.” Sam answered.

           “That’s like trying to put a leash on a great white.” Dakota stated.

Dean slammed his hand down on the table and stood up, “Okay, so we stop Roy.”

           “Um, how?” Dakota asked.

           “You know how,” Dean said and Dakota’s jaw dropped when she realized what he was implying.

           “Dude, what the Hell are you talking about? We can’t kill Roy!” Sam said.

           “Sam, Kota, the guy is playing God. He’s deciding who lives and who dies! That’s a monster in my book!” Dean snapped.

           “Dean, we don’t kill people!” Dakota protested as she stood up and pressed her hands against the top of the table.

           “We do that, we’re no better than he is.” Sam rationalized.

           “Okay, we can’t kill Roy, we can’t kill death, any bright ideas college boy?” Dean snarked.

           “Okay, um, if Roy is using some kind of spell on the reaper we gotta find out what it is… and how to break it.” Sam stammered out. Dean nodded and left the room, presumably to get in the car.

           “Four years at an Ivy League school and this is what you have to offer?” Dakota sassed and then ducked as Sam threw a pen that had been sitting on the table at her head.

……….

The Winchesters pulled the Impala up in front of the white tent used to hold services and climbed out while discussing their game plan.

           “If Roy is using black magic then maybe there is some kinda spell book.” Dakota guessed.

           “See if you can find it. Service starts in 15 minutes. Sam and I’ll see if we can stall Roy.” Dean ordered and Dakota gave a mock salute before rushing off.

Right across from the big white tent was Roy’s large, two story house with a big wrap around porch. Dakota climbed on to the back of the porch and waited until she heard the Roy and his wife close the front door and walk to their car before heading for one of the windows. For some odd reason small, religious towns never seemed to think anything bad would ever happen so they all left their windows unlocked and Dakota wasn’t disappointed here. She simply lifted the window and climbed in to what appeared to be the livingroom. She started going around the house checking all the rooms, but everything seemed to be completely normal. At the end of the hallway on the first floor she came to a locked room. Reaching into her combat boots, she pulled her knife out and jimmied the door open. Inside was a dark, dank room full of old books and as she started going through the book shelves she found a tiny book shoved in the back. Dakota opened it and smiled, this was the book she was looking for, but then she saw the local newspaper clipping stashed in the front of the book.

She reached into her pocket and called Dean, “I figured out how Roy is choosing his victims. He’s picking people he sees as immoral. And the protester that we’ve seen in the parking lot is next.”

           “Okay, you look for a way to break the spell and Sam will take care of the protester guy. I’ll make sure no one gets healed until then.” Dean said before hanging up. Something still didn’t sit right with Dakota, but she didn’t have time to think about that as she flipped through the book looking for a way to stop the reaper. Suddenly, it was like a lightbulb went off in her head, this book was written in English, but Roy was blind and could only read brail. She took off across the parking lot to find her brothers. She saw the protester on the ground and Sam yelling into his phone that it didn’t work.

           “Sam! It’s not Roy! It’s his wife!” Dakota yelled.

           “What?” Sam asked.

           “I’ll explain later, just tell Dean to stop her!” She yelled as the man lay dying in front of them. After a moment the protester began gasping for air again and the color returned to his cheeks, whatever Dean had done must have worked.

           “I got ya.” Sam said helping the man stand up. Dakota looked over at the tent and saw Dean being forcefully escorted out of the tent by two officers and followed by Roy’s wife, Sue Anne. The rest of Roy’s flock exited the tent and Dakota saw Dean and Layla talking from a distance before the young woman walked away from him. Although it was refreshing to watch her big brother get turned down by women every once in a while, Dean had a tough week and deserved a break.

……….

The Winchesters went back to their motel room to figure out what to do next in this case. Dean was pacing the floor and Sam and Dakota sat on the beds next to each other.

Sam leaned forward on his elbows as he watched Dean pace and said, “So Roy really believes he can heal people.”

           “I don’t think he has any idea what his wife is doing.” Dean said.

Dakota reached into the inside pocket of her jean jacket and said, “Well I found this hidden in their library.” Both boys made a grab for the book, but Dakota held it to her chest. “It’s written by a priest who went dark side. There’s a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper.”

           “Must be a Hell of a spell.” Dean commented as he sat down next to Sam on the bed across from Dakota. She handed the book over to them and rolled her eyes as they fought over who got to hold it.

           “Yeah. You gotta build a black alter with seriously dark stuff. Bones, human blood.” Dakota listed.

           “To cross a line like that…that preacher’s wife. Black magic, murder, evil.” Sam said.

           “Desperate.” Dean corrected, “Her husband was dying of cancer, she would have done anything to save him. The binding spell was to keep the reaper away from Roy.”

           “Cheating death.” Sam said.

           “Literally.” Dakota added then asked, “But wait, Roy is healed now so why is she still using the spell?”

           “Like you said earlier, Kota, to kill people she thinks are immoral.” Dean said.

           “We gotta break that binding spell.” Sam said.

Dean flipped through the book then held up a picture of the cross from the Tarot card and the alter at Roy’s services. “Ya know, Sue Ann was wearing a cross just like this.”

           “So do we need to find the cross or destroy the alter?” Dakota asked.

           “Why not both. There’s three of us and two things to find plus one of us to distract Roy and Sue Ann.” Dean said. “But whatever we do, we gotta do it fast. Roy’s healing Layla tonight.”

……….

Once they came up with somewhat of a plan, the Winchesters filed into the Impala and drove over to Roy and Sue Ann’s house.

           “That’s Layla’s car.” Sam said nodding towards a compact car sitting in the parking lot.

           “Yeah.” Dean whispered, “Ya know, if Roy had picked Layla instead of me she could be healed right now.”

           “Dean, don’t.” Dakota begged.

           “And if she’s not healed tonight. She is going to die in a couple months.”

           “What’s happening to her is horrible. But what are you going to do? Let someone else die to save her?” Sam asked.

           “You said it yourself Dean, you can’t play God.” Dakota said from the backseat. Dean turned to face the window and Dakota saw his jaw give a small twitch. She knew that jaw twitch, that was his “if I wasn’t such a manly hunter I would have tears in my eyes and I’m really upset” jaw twitch. Without another word, Dean climbed out of the driver seat and Dakota scampered out behind him. She heard Sam’s door close as she and Dean walked to the tent. The three looked through one of the cracks in the tent and saw a small amount of people gathered around Layla and Roy, but Sue Ann was nowhere to be seen. They decided to split up, Sam and Dakota taking the house and Dean running off to do whatever it is Dean’s do best. Dakota and Sam walked around the entire wrap around porch and saw that all the lights in the house were off; Dakota didn’t know much about performing binding rituals, but she was willing to bet you needed at least a little bit of light to perform one. Sam whistled to her from the other side of the porch and she lightly jogged over to where Sam was leaning over the railing of the porch. She went and stood next to him and looked down where he was looking and saw a tornado cellar in the ground with light coming out of the cracks between the doors. They went down to the cellar and opened the doors, which were naturally incredibly loud, and climbed down the steep stairs to find a very average looking cellar with candles, blankets, food, all the things you would need in an emergency. They walked a bit further into the cellar and that’s where they found it, the black alter covered in the strange crosses, blood, bones, and other horrible things. Sam let out a whistle under his breath, but Dakota barely heard it, all of her attention was focused on the photo at the center of the alter: a photo of Dean with an x drawn in blood on it.

           “I gave your brother life and I can take it away.” A voice said behind them Dakota and Sam turned around and saw Sue Ann calmly standing in the middle of the storm cellar. Dakota shot Sam a look which he immediately understood and they both grabbed ends of the alter and knocked it over as Sue Ann fled. They ran after her, but by the time they reached the doors Sue Ann had already locked them from the outside.

           “Sam, Dakota can’t you see? The Lord chose me to reward the just and punish the wicked. And your brother is wicked and he deserves to die just as Layla deserves to live.” Sue Ann preached as Sam and Dakota ran around looking for something to break the door down.

           “Kota, over here!” Sam said and Dakota rushed over and saw that there was a small tunnel leading back to the house. “Think you can fit in there?”

           “Yeah, I’ll go and get the cross from Sue Ann then I’ll come unlock the door.” Dakota said as she started to climb through the dirt tunnel. She came up in the basement of the house and rushed through the house and out the front door. She saw Sue Ann standing in the middle of the field praying and Dakota ran up behind her and grabbed the cross from her neck, throwing it on the ground as hard as she could. Dakota watched as Sue Ann dropped to the ground the same way the protestor had, but this time the reaper didn’t stop and after a moment Sue Ann stopped breathing. Dakota stood there catching her breath before she remembered that she had left her twin locked in a cellar; she turned around and ran to the cellar.

           “Sammy! Stand away from the door!” Dakota yelled as she pulled out her gun and shot the lock on the door handles. She lifted the heavy metal doors so Sam could climb out.

           “Where’s Dean?” Sam asked.

           “Good question. No idea.” Dakota answered.

They started walking to the Impala, figuring that was a good place to start and saw Dean leaning on the driver side door.

           “You okay?” Sam asked.

           “Hell of a week.” Dean responded.

           “Yeah, common we should get going.” Dakota said.

……….

Fire. There was fire everywhere. It seemed as though the walls and ceiling were made of it. Dakota frantically looked around for an exit, screaming for help, and that’s when the laughing started. The most evil, cold, cruel laugh imaginable sounded from behind her, so close she could almost feel the owner of the laugh’s breath on her neck. She slowly turned to face the monster when…

           “Dakota!” Sam yelled and Dakota shot up in bed like a rocket. “Dude, what the Hell? I’ve been yelling your name for like five minutes. We’re leaving soon, start packing.” He said throwing her duffle at her. Dakota took some deep, calming breaths then climbed out of bed and began gathering her things. Sam was also moving around the room throwing things in bags, but Dean was sitting at the table staring off into space.

           “You okay?” Dakota asked.

           “We did the right thing here, right?” Dean asked.

           “Of course we did.” Sam confirmed.

           “It doesn’t feel like it.” Dean muttered. Knocking rang through the motel room suddenly and all three Winchesters stared at the door before Sam stood to open it. Dakota looked down at herself and realized she was still in sleeping shorts and an old tanktop so she slipped into the bathroom to change. Once she had her jeans, tee-shirt, and flannel on she threw her hair into a ponytail and put on some mascara and eyeliner before she rejoined her brothers in the main room of the motel. Whoever their visitor was had already left, but she was willing to bet it had been Layla.

The only one in the room was Dean. “Everything okay?” Dakota asked tentatively.

           “Yeah. Everything’s fine.” Dean answered quietly.


	25. Route 666 Part 1

Dakota was looking at a map resting on top of the Impala, trying to find a way to get them to their next case without having to take too much of a detour. Sam was inside grabbing food and Dean was listening to his messages.

           “Okay, So I think I found a way we can get around that construction East of here.” Dakota said looking up from her map at Dean who was messing around with his phone, “Or we can just sit in hours of traffic, if you’d rather.” She sassed, but he still didn’t pay attention to her.

Sam walked out of the gas station with a bag in his hands and asked, “So, how’s it going?”

           “Well, I think I found a way to get us to Pennsylvania faster than we thought, but someone isn’t listening.” Dakota yelled the last part.

Dean hung up his phone and started walking to the front of the car, “I am listening. Change of plans, we aren’t going to Pennsylvania.”

Dakota threw the map into the air while giving her brother her best bitchface. Sam let out a laugh of disbelief and asked, “Wait, what?”

           “I just got a call from an old friend. Her father was killed last night, she thinks it may be our kinda thing.” Dean explained as he climbed into the front seat. “And believe me she never would have called if she didn’t need us.” When Sam and Dakota hesitiated he rolled his eyes and sassed, “Common! You guys comin or what?”

Dakota climbed into the car mentally going through a list of girls who would never want to call Dean, but decided that list was too long to figure out who his “old friend” was.

About 30 minutes into the ride Dean explained the case to them and Sam asked, “So by old friend you mean…?”

           “A friend who is not new.” Dean said and

Dakota rolled her eyes, “Right, thanks.” She leaned forward in her seat so she could lean her elbows on the top of the bench seat in front of her, letting her head come up right between her brothers.

           “Her name’s Cassie.” Dean confessed.

           “Cassie. You’ve never mentioned her.” Sam pointed out, but Dakota wasn’t so sure. She could’ve sworn she’d heard Dean talk about a Cassie before. Maybe it had been while Sam was at school.

           “Yeah, we went out.” Dean said.

           “You mean you dated someone? For more than one night?” Sam asked crossing his arms across his chest and getting a very smug look on his face.

           “Am I speaking a language you don’t understand? Dad, Dakota, and I were working a job in Athens, Ohio. She was finishing up college and we went out for a couple weeks.” Dean explained.

           “Wait, this is _that_ Cassie? The one that had you walking around with a blush and a stupid grin for two weeks!?” Dakota recalled. “It was a few months after you left.” She explained to Sam. She remembered that hunt very clearly now: Dad had wanted them to stay behind and do research, even though they were old enough to help. Dean had met Cassie of their first day in town and they spent every day together for two weeks either in Dakota and Dean’s motel room or at Cassie’s house. They were disgustingly cute and were always all over each other.

           “Look, what happened to her dad is terrible, but it kinda sounds like a standard car accident. I just don’t know that it fits with what we do.” Sam confessed.

           “Yeah, and by the way, how does she know what we do?” Dakota asked. Dean’s silence was answer enough.

           “You told her!?” Sam and Dakota yelled out at the same time.

           “I can’t believe this! You told her _the_ secret! Our big family Rule: We do what we do and we shut up about it!” Dakota ranted.

           “For a year and a half I do nothing, but lie to Jessica and you go out with this chick in Ohio a few times and you tell her everything!” Sam yelled.

           “Yeah, looks like.” Dean snapped before turning the music up. Dakota could see Sam’s shoulders tense up and knew that both brothers were both equally pissed off. This was going to be a long drive.

……….

They made it into town a few tense hours later. Dean parked the car in front of an office building that housed a news office in it. They walked through the front doors and saw three people finishing a conversation, soon the two men left and all that was left was the young girl. Dakota recognized that it was Cassie, but even if she hadn’t noticed her, Dean’s reaction was a big tip. He froze up and Dakota could feel his nervousness and excitement and smiled to herself, it was always nice to see Dean act human.

Cassie turned around and her big, chocolate brown eyes went wide before softening, “Dean.”

           “Hey Cassie.” Dean said with his signature flirty grin as Cassie walked up to him.

The two stared at each other for so long that Dakota looked down at the ground to avoid the awkwardness. Sam cleared his throat breaking Dean and Cassie’s gaze.

           “This is my brother, Sam.” Dean introduced and Cassie smiled at him before Dean continued, “And you already know Dakota.”

           “Yes, of course. Hi. Nice to see you again.” Cassie said, clearly flustered.

           “Nice to see you too, Cassie.” Dakota responded with a little wave.

           “We’re sorry about your dad.” Dean said.

           “Yeah, me too.” Cassie whispered before her and Dean stared staring at each other again. Dakota looked over at Sam and saw he was smiling too.

……….

After Cassie got off work they went over to her parent’s house. She had them all sit down on her sofa while she made them tea.

           “My mom’s in pretty bad shape. I’ve been staying with her.” Cassie explained carrying in a tray with mugs and a tea pot. “I wish she wouldn’t go out by herself, she’s been so nervous and frightened. She was worried about Dad.”

           “Why?” Dean asked.

           “He was scared. He was seeing things.” Cassie said.

           “What kinds of things?” Dakota asked.

           “He swore he saw an awful looking black pick-up truck following him.” Cassie told them.

           “A truck? Who was the driver?” Sam asked.

           “He never mentioned a driver, just the truck.” Cassie said handing out the tea cups, “He said it would appear and disappear. And in the accident, Dad’s truck was dented like it had been slammed into with something big.

Dakota took a sip of the perfectly brewed tea and asked, “And you’re sure this dent wasn’t there before?”

           “He sold cars. Always drove a new one. There wasn’t a scratch on that thing. It had rained hard that night. There was mud everywhere. There was a distinct set of tire tracks from Dad’s car leading right to the edge where he went over.” Cassie’s voice cracked as she explained what happened.

           “And the first person killed was a friend of your father’s?” Dean asked.

           “Best friend. Clayton Solmes, they owned a car dealership together.” Cassie said her voice breaking a little, “Same thing: dent, no tracks. And the cops said the exact same thing they said about Dad! That he lost control of his car!”

           “Can you think of any reason your father and his friend might be targets?” Dean asked. Dakota was starting to feel like she and Sam should just leave since Dean seemed to have this under control.

Cassie shook her head in answer to Dean’s question. “And you think this vanishing truck ran them off the road?” Sam asked.

Cassie let out a humorless chuckle and looked at the ceiling, “God. You say it out loud like that and…Look, I’m a little skeptical about this ghost stuff or whatever it is you guys are into.”

Dean scoffed, “Skeptical. See if I remember, I think you said I was nuts.” Dean snapped. Dakota and Sam shared a look at each other from their spots on the opposite sides of Dean.

           “That was then.” Cassie explained. Dakota rolled her eyes at the tension is the room. A car door closed outside and Dakota was immediately on guard since they seemed to be dealing with an evil truck. No one else seemed to hear the car door close and a moment later an older woman walked through the front door of Cassie’s house.

           “Mom! Where have you been?” Cassie asked standing up and rushing to her mother’s side. The Winchesters put their tea cups down and stood up as well.

           “Oh, I had no idea you had invited friends over.” Cassie’s mom said in a thick Southern accent.

           “Mom, this is Dean a friend of mine from…college.” Cassie lied, “And his brother Sam and sister Dakota.” She finished the introductions.

           “Mrs. Robinson, we are so sorry for your loss.” Dean said. “If you have a minute, we’d love to talk to you.”

           “I don’t really feel up to that just now.” Mrs. Robinson said in a very offended tone before walking away.

……….

Dakota was lying face down, asleep, on the tiny couch in their motel room when all the blankets were ripped off of her.

           “Rise and shine, Squirt! Cassie called, there’s been another death.” Dean yelled.

Dakota groaned and watched as Sam began to stir from Dean’s yelling. She smiled as Dean went over to Sam’s bed and gave him the same good morning he’d given her. Dakota sat up and stretched her sore muscles, one of the many cons of being the youngest and littlest Winchester was that if there was a couch in the motel room of the week, she would be sleeping on it. At first it was nice not being crushed every night by two giants, but now the couches were tiny and uncomfortable. As long as she got her four hours, though, Dakota wasn’t complaining.

They made it to the crime scene about twenty minutes later. Dean had rushed them out the door so Sam and Dakota had finished putting their socks and shoes on in the car while Dean raced to meet Cassie. Dakota had just finished putting on some mascara and eyeliner and throwing her hair into a ponytail when they pulled up. They got out and saw Cassie talking to the same man they had seen her arguing with yesterday when they arrived in town.

           “Accidents do happen, Cassie. But that’s what they are: accidents.” The man said.

           “Did the cops check for additional denting on Jimmy’s car to see if it was pushed?” Dean said standing behind Cassie with Dakota and Sam flanking him.

“This is Dean, Sam, and Dakota Winchester. They’re family friends. This is Mayor Harold Todd.” Cassie introduced.

Harold nodded and answered Dean’s question, “There was one set of tire tracks. Just one. That doesn’t point to foul play.” He explained.

           “Mayor, the police and town officials take their que from you! If you’re indifferent…” Cassie snapped.

           “Indifferent!” The mayor interrupted.

           “Would you close the road if the victims were white?” Cassie asked sassily and Dakota had to applaud the girl on her ability to stand up for herself. Too often, the women they meet on cases were playing the damsel in distress card, but not Cassie; Cassie seemed to be strong.

           “You suggesting I’m racist, Cassie? I’m the last person you should think of like that!” The mayor said.

           “And why’s that?” Cassie questioned.

           “Why don’t you ask your mother?” Harold snapped before walking away.

The siblings realized that in order to work this case they might have to be more than just friends of Cassie’s so they went back to their motel room and changed into their “professional” outfits. Dean was messing with his tie and Sam was putting his suit jacket on while Dakota stood in front of the mirror above the dresser and finished putting on her makeup.

           “Well, I’ll say this much about her, she’s fearless.” Sam said. And Dean hummed in agreement. “I bet she kicked your ass a couple of times.” Dean glared at Sam and Dakota did her best to hold back a laugh.

           “I like her.” Dakota said putting down her lipstick and grabbing a brush. “But, you know what’s interesting? You two never look at each other at the same time. You look at her when she’s not looking. She checks you out when you look away. Just an interesting observation in an… observationally interesting way.” Dakota said as she pulled her hair up into a neat bun. She looked over at Dean and Sam who were both messing with their ties.

           “Ya know, I think we might have some more pressing issues here.” Dean sassed. “Common, let’s go.” He said before storming out the door.

Dakota looked over at Sam. “‘An interesting observation in an observationally interesting way’? Seriously?” Sam sassed.

           “Shut up.” Dakota muttered.

……….

The Impala rolled up to an old dock at the edge of town and the Winchester’s climbed out. They walked down to one of the buildings sitting on the dock and found two older men sitting there in front of a checkers board. It was foggy, windy, and cold this close to the water and Dakota wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she didn’t have to wear her stupid “professional” skirt.

           “Excuse me. Are either one of you Ron Stubbins?” Dakota asked with her arms still crossed over her chest. The old man sitting closest to them nodded.

           “You were friends with Jimmy Anderson?” Dean asked

           “Who are you?” Ron asked.

           “We’re with Mr. Anderson’s insurance company. We’re just here to dot some I’s and cross some T’s.” Dean lied.

           “We were just wondering, had the deceased ever mention any recent, unusual experiences?” Sam asked.

           “What do you mean ‘unusual’” Ron asked.

           “Visions, hallucinations. It’s all part of a medical examination kinda thing. All very standard.” Dakota reassured him.

           “What company you say you were with?” Ron asked.

           “All National Mutual.” Dean answered.

           “Tell me, did he ever mention seeing a truck? A big, black truck?” Sam asked.

           “What the Hell are you talking about? You even speaking English?” Ron asked, but Dakota noticed that the man sitting next to Ron seemed to tense up at the mention of the truck. She looked at her brothers and saw that they had noticed it too.

           “Son, this truck, a big, scary monster looking thing?” The man next to Ron asked.

           “Yeah, actually, I think so.” Dean said. The man hummed and nodded his head.

           “What?” Dean asked.

           “I have heard of a truck like that. Back in the 60’s there was a string of deaths. Black men. Story goes, they disappeared in a big, nasty, black truck. They never caught the man who did it. Not sure they even really looked. See, there was a time this town wasn’t too friendly to all its citizens.” The man explained, then he went back to his checkers game without another word.

As they walked away Sam said, “This truck keeps coming up.”

“Ya know, I was thinking, you ever heard of the Flying Dutchman?” Dean asked.

           “Yeah, a ghost ship infused with the captain’s evil spirit. The ship was basically a part of him.” Dakota answered.

           “What if we’re dealing with the same kinda thing? Ya know, a phantom truck who’s the extension of some bastard ghost, re-enacting past crimes.” Dean said.

           “The victims have all been black men.” Sam pointed out.

           “I think it’s more than that. They all seem connected to Cassie and her family.” Dean said.

           “Alright, you work that angle. Go talk to her.” Dakota said.

           “Oh! And you might want to also mention that other thing.” Sam said. Dakota smiled as she figured out what Sam was hinting at.

           “What other thing?” Dean asked.

           “The serious unfinished business.” Sam said and both he and a laugh bubbled out of Dakota. “Dean, what is going on between you two?”

           “Alright, so maybe we were a little more involved than I said.” Dean said and Sam and Dakota raised their eyebrows at him, “Okay…a lot more.”

           “I knew it! Kota, why didn’t you tell me!?” Sam asked.

           “It’s not my story to tell. And also, I’m way more scared of Dean than I am of you.” She confessed.

           “Knock it off you two! Look, I told her the secret of what we do and I shouldn’t have, alright?” Dean snapped.

           “Look man, everyone’s gotta open up to someone sometime.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, well I don’t. It was stupid and look how it ended. Now would you stop.” Dean ordered.

Sam was silent for a moment then he looked over at Dakota and she could tell they were thinking the same thing, Sam turned to Dean and said, “You loved her.”

           “Oh God.” Dean said before turning to unlock the car.

           “You were in love with her, but then you dumped her.” Dakota continued. Dean stayed silent.

           “Oh wow. She dumped you.” Sam said surprised.

           “Shut up and get in the car.” Dean said before climbing in and slamming his door closed.


	26. Route 666 Part 2

Dean had taken off to go “talk” to Cassie half an hour ago and Dakota already knew he wasn’t going to be coming back that night. Her stomach started growling so she reached over for the phone on the bedside table.

           “What are you doing?” Sam asked.

           “If this is anything like the last time Dean and Cassie were together, he won’t be coming back tonight and I’m hungry so I’m ordering us a pizza.” Dakota explained.

After placing an order for a large supreme pizza, she hung up and looked at Sam who was laying on the opposite bed. “They said it wot be ready for an hour since it’s Friday night and there’s only one pizza joint in town.” Dakota sighed and flopped down on her stomach on the bed. She didn’t think her stomach could wait an hour for the goodness that was pizza.

           “Wanna go to the pool?” Sam asked.

           “What? Sam we haven’t gone swimming in years!” Dakota exclaimed.

           “Yeah, well, we have an hour before the pizza gets here and we haven’t really had a chance to hang out, just the two of us, since before I left. Common it’ll be fun!” Sam promised.

Dakota’s lips stretched into a wide grin and she got off the bed, quickly walking to her duffle bag which sat on the couch. She grabbed her suit and went into the bathroom to change.

……….

Sam and Dakota had spent an hour at the pool, laughing and having fun. Dakota had even managed to convince Sam to launch her off his shoulders like Dean and Sam use to when they were kids. They got out of the pool and raced each other to the motel room, Dakota beating Sam by an inch. She stuck her tongue out at him and claimed her prize, the first shower and with it, as much hot water as she pleased. When she came out the pizza was sitting on the little kitchen table, waiting for her to consume it.

           “Dig in! I’m gonna grab a shower. Why don’t you find us something to watch?” Sam suggested.

           “Sure” Dakota said and she practically ran over to the pizza and grabbed two slices. She flopped on to one of the beds with her paper plate full of cheesy goodness and started channel surfing. She settled on some crappy made-for-TV movie that she thought might be fun to make fun of. She paused the movie and waited for Sam to get out of the shower, he always took the longest showers out of all three of the siblings; Dakota liked to think it was because of all his hair, she couldn’t imagine him letting it get any longer than it already was. After what felt like forever, but was really only about three minutes, Sam came out of the bathroom in an old tee shirt and a pair of boxers, grabbed some pizza and sat down on the opposite bed.

           “What are we watching?” He asked.

           “Some God awful, campy, made-for-TV movie. I figured it’d be good for a few laughs.” Dakota explained.

……….

The first thing Dakota noticed was it was morning and she was waking up alone in bed, clearly Dean was still at Cassie’s house. The next thing was someone tapping her foot. She grumbled and snuggled further into the sheets.

           “Bug. Wake up. We got work to do. The mayor just died,” Sam said. Dakota shot up in bed.

           “What?” She asked.

           “I know it’s crazy. Go get dressed, I’ll call Dean and grab us a cab, we can meet at the crime scene and I’ll explain there.” Sam said grabbing some close from Dakota duffle bag and throwing them at her. Dakota pressed her hands to her temples, rubbing them slowly before Sam told her to go get dressed. She had a splitting headache which she hoped was just from stress, but she had an uneasy feeling it had to do with her weird powers; she wanted to ask Sam if he was feeling anything, but he had already slipped into the bathroom to change. Her head aches had been getting continuously worse over the last year, but she didn’t want to bother Sam and Dean with it since there were far more important matters at hand: Sam’s abilities, their dad going missing, the demon resurfacing all took a higher priority in Dakota’s mind than her sudden ability to feel emotions.

……….

Dakota and Sam had finished talking to the lead detective in the current case when Dean showed up.

           “Where were you last night?” Sam asked teasingly.

           “Shut up. So, what happened?” Dean asked.

           “Well, not a whole lot. Me and Moose here just went swimming had some pizza, watched a movie. Ya know, the usual stuff.” Dakota said, jokingly. She knew Dean was asking about the case, but messing with him was just too much fun. “Alright, in all seriousness, every bone in the mayor’s body was crushed and his intestines were turned to pudding.”

           “Cops have no idea what’s going on.” Sam continued. “It’s almost like something ran him over. Something like a truck.”

           “Any tracks?” Dean asked.

           “Nope.” Sam and Dakota answered at the same time.

           “What was the mayor doing here anyways?” Dean asked.

           “He owned the property. Bought it a few weeks ago” Sam explained.

           “Yeah, but he’s white. That doesn’t fit the pattern.” Dean pointed out.

Dakota shrugged, “The killing didn’t happen up on the road, that doesn’t fit the pattern either.”

……….

Dean had gone to meet Cassie at the library to try and find a connection between the victims while Dakota and Sam went to the courthouse to see what they could find.

Sam was flipping through an old notebook of one of the victims from the 60’s when he told Dakota to call Dean. She quickly whipped out her phone and put it on speaker.

           “So, the courthouse records show that Mr. and Mrs. Mayor bought the abandoned property. The previous owners were the Dorian family for 150 years.” Sam explained. Dakota could hear Dean and Cassie talking on the other end of the line, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.

           “That’s interesting.” Dean finally said.

           “What?” Dakota asked.

           “This Cyrus Dorian disappeared in April of 63. The case was investigated, but never solved. That’s right around the time of the string of murders.” Dean said.

           “Well, we pulled a bunch of paper up on the Dorian place, it must have been in shape when the mayor bought it. The first thing he did was bulldoze the place.” Dakota said.

There was more mumbling from Dean’s end of the line and Dakota looked up from the phone at Sam to see if he could understand anything, but he looked just as confused as she did.

           “You guys got a date?” Dean finally asked.

Dakota read over Sam’s shoulder as he flipped for the page with the date on it, “The third of last month.” Sam read.

           “Mayor Todd bulldozed the home on the third and the first killing was the next day.” Dean told them.

……….

The Winchesters were hanging out in their motel room doing further research on the possible link between the victims. Dakota was so invested in the article that she was reading that she didn’t notice Dean’s phone ringing until he started freaking out.

           ‘What’s wrong?” Dakota asked.

           “It’s Cassie! The truck was just at her house! We have to go now!” Dean said as he raced around the room trying to pack everything they could possibly need.

They made it to Cassie and her mother’s house in just under ten minutes, breaking every speed limit in order to do so. Dean rushed in the front door to Cassie’s side and Dakota saw that Cassie’s mom, Mrs. Robinson, was sitting in the living room as well. Dakota noticed how shook up both the women seemed so she grabbed Sam by the sleeve of his jacket and pulled him into the kitchen.

           “What?” Sam whispered.

           “They look really shaken up and I figured Dean would want a minute alone with his girlfriend.” Dakota told him.

           “Okay. So, we’re just going to hide in the kitchen?” Sam asked sassily.

           “No, we are going to do the polite thing and bring them something to drink.” Dakota stated. Sam stared at her for a moment as if he had never heard of such a concept before shrugging and walking over to the stove to turn on the kettle.

As soon as the tea was done they brought out the two mugs and handed them to Cassie and her mom before taking their seats, Sam next to Dean and Cassie on the sofa and Dakota in the chair to the right of Mrs. Robinson.

           “No one seemed to be driving the truck. Everything was moving so fast, and then it was gone! Why didn’t it kill us?” Cassie asked. Dakota noticed that her hand was shaking slightly as she picked up the cup.

           “Well, whatever is controlling the truck wants you scared first.” Dean said.

           “Mrs. Robinson, Cassie said that your husband saw the truck before he died.” Dakota said to the women next to her. Mrs. Robinson stopped with her mug halfway to her lips and stared into space for a minute.

Then she snapped out of it and said, “Martin was under a lot of stress, you can’t be sure what he was seeing.”

           “Well, after tonight, I think we can be reasonably sure that he was seeing a truck.” Dean sassed. “What happened tonight, you and Cassie are marked, okay? Your daughter could die. So if you know something now would be a really good time to tell us about it!” Dean finished angrily.

           “Dean!” Cassie hissed trying to calm him down.

           “Yes. Yes, he said he saw a truck.” Mrs. Robinson confessed.

           “Did he know who it belonged to?” Sam asked gently.

Mrs. Robinson nodded, but didn’t speak; her voice seemed to be caught in her throat. Finally, she gave them a name, “Cyrus. A man named Cyrus.”

The Winchester’s shared a look before Dakota reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out an article she had been looking at earlier with Cyrus Dorian’s face on it.

           “Is this Cyrus?” She asked handing the paper to Mrs. Robinson.

           “Cyrus Dorian died more than 40 years ago.” The older woman said.

           “How do you know he died? The papers only ever said he was missing.” Dean asked.

           “I dated Cyrus for a while. I was also seeing Martin, in secret of course, because interracial couples didn’t go over too well back then.” Mrs. Robinson let out a nervous laugh before continuing, “When I broke it off with Cyrus and when he found out about Martin…I don’t know, he changed. His hatred was frightening.”

           “The string of murders.” Sam said.

           “There were rumors. People of color disappearing into some kind of a truck. But, nothing was ever done.” Mrs. Robinson said with a sniffle. She whipped a few tears away and Dakota saw that Cassie had tears in her eyes as well, “Martin and I were going to be married in a little church near here, but last minute we decided to elope.”

           “And Cyrus?” Dean asked

Mrs. Robinson let out a few sobs before continuing her story, “The date we had set for the wedding was the day someone set fire to the church. There was a children’s choir practicing in there. They all died.”

           “Did the attacks stop after that?” Dakota asked quietly.

           “No. There was one more. One night that truck came for Martin. Cyrus beat him something terrible, but Martin got loose and he started hitting Cyrus and he just kept hitting him.” Mrs. Robinson was sobbing uncontrollably at this point.

           “Why didn’t you call the cops?” Dean asked.

           “This was 40 years ago!” She snapped at Dean, “He called on his friends Clayton, Solmes, and Jimmy Anderson and they put Cyrus’ body in the truck and rolled it into the swamp at the edge of his land and all three kept it a secret all these years.”

           “And now all three are gone. But, so is Mayor Todd.” Dakota said, she still was sure what the mayor’s connection was to all this.

           “He said that you of all people would know that he is not a racist, Mrs. Robinson.” Dean said.

           “He was a good man. He was a young deputy back then, investigating Cyrus’ disappearance. Once he figured out Martin and the others had done, he did nothing. Because he also knew what Cyrus had done. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you Cassie, I thought I was protecting them. And now there’s no one left to protect.”

           “Yes, there is.” Dean said as he wrapped his hand around Cassie’s.

……….

The Winchester siblings were waiting outside of the house for Cassie and Mrs. Robinson to sort out everything that had just been discovered.

“Ah, my life was so simple.” Sam said leaning against the passenger door of the Impala, “Just school, exams, papers on polycentric cultural norms.”

           “On what?” Dakota asked from where she was sitting on the trunk.

           “Well, I guess we saved you from a boring existence.” Dean said from his spot against the hood of the car.

           “Occasionally I miss boring.” Sam confessed.

           “Okay, so this killer truck.” Dean started.

           “I miss conversations that didn’t start with ‘this killer truck’”. Sam laughed.

           “Yeah, this one is weird, even for us.” Dakota agreed. Even Dean let out a laugh at the ridiculous conversation they were having.

           “Well, this Cyrus guy was evil on a level that infected even his truck. When he died, the swamp became his tomb and he was dormant for 40 years.” Dean summarized.

           “So what woke him up?” Sam wondered aloud.

           “The construction on his house.” Dean answered.

           “Well, in this case I think it was the destruction of his house.” Dakota corrected.

           “Right. Demolition or remodeling can awaken spirits, make them restless. Like that theater in Illinois.” Sam recalled.

           “Yeah. And the guy who tore down the house is now dead and Harold Todd who kept Cyrus’ murder a secret.” Dakota said.

           “And now his spirit is awake and out for blood. I mean, I guess. Who knows what ghost are thinking anyways.” Dean said. Dakota briefly wondered if she could find out what a ghost was thinking or feeling at least. She wasn’t sure if her powers would work of a ghosts and other monsters or if it only worked on humans.

           “Ya know we’re going to have to dredge that body up from the swamp, right?” Sam asked.

           “That’s gone suck.” Dakota said and her brothers nodded along with her.

Cassie came out of the house and started walking towards the car. She stopped in front of Dean and crossed her arms over her chest; Dakota wasn’t sure if it was because she was mad at them or if she was freezing, but she was hoping for the latter.

           “She’s asleep. Now what?” Cassie asked.

 

           “Well, you stay put and look after her and we’ll be back. Don’t leave the house!” Dean ordered.

Cassie smiled and raised an eyebrow, “Don’t go getting all authoritative on me.”

Dakota and Sam started to chuckle until Dean shot them a look over his shoulder that clearly said ‘shut up’.

           “Don’t leave the house, please?” Dean tried again.

Cassie smiled and she and Dean started leaning into each other. Sam’s hand flew across Dakota’s eyes, saving her from the scaring experience of seeing Dean’s tongue down Cassie throat. Dakota heard Sam clear his throat loudly.

           “You two commin’ or what?” Dean asked, his voice sounded lower and rougher and Dakota honestly thought she might throw up as she climbed into the back seat.

……….

After finding the swamp were Cyrus and his truck were located and after finding the truck in the lake and hooking it with chains Dakota went and grabbed a tractor they had seen sitting on the property earlier when they drove up. Dakota hopped into the driver’s seat and found the keys hanging off of the rear view mirror. She would never understand why people left their car keys in such obvious places. She revved the engine and drove it over to where her brothers were leaning against the Impala.

           “Did someone order a tractor?” She shouted from her seat.

           “Nice one baby sis! Now back it up and Dean will hook up the chains.” Sam said smiling.

Ten minutes later Dakota was climbing out of the driver’s seat with Cyrus’ truck successfully on land.

Dean and Sam went over to grab the supplies while Dakota waited by her tractor, “Common boys! Let’s get this done!”

They walked over to the truck and Dean cautiously opened the front door and Cyrus’ corpse fell out, “Okay. Let’s do this.” He said.

They moved the body out of the truck and over to a pile of wood that was conveniently nearby and salted and burned his bone.

           “You think that’ll do it?” Sam asked and as soon as the words left his mouth they heard a truck roar to life.

           “You jinxed it.” Dakota said flatly.

They slowly turned and stared at a big, black truck parked there with it’s lights on and the engine revving. It looked like a brand new version of the one they had just hauled from the swamp.

           “So, burning the body had no effect at all?” Sam asked.

           “Sure it did. Now it’s even more pissed.” Dean answered.

           “Cyrus’ ghost is gone, right?” Dakota asked.

           “Apparently not the part that’s fused to the truck.” Dean said.

Dean started backing away slowly towards the Impala, “Okay guys, I’m gonna go for a little drive and lead that thing away while you burn that rusty piece of crap” He said pointed to the real truck, covered in mud and water on the banks.

           “How the Hell are we supposed to burn that!!?” Dakota yelled

Dean tossed her the duffle bag full of their salt and burn equipment and said, “Figure something out.” Before jumping in the car and driving off, the ghost truck hot on his tails.

           “You take care of the truck. I’ve got an idea.” Sam said running to his bag with his notes in it.

Dakota stood there holding a duffle bag almost the size of her trying to figure out how to burn a truck that was completely soaked. Finally, she dropped the bag and decided that matches and gasoline wouldn’t work in this case, but maybe she could get under the hood and get something to spark then pray that it starts a fire. She had to stand on the tips of her tows to see the engine, but she managed to make it work.

Dakota was still under the hood tearing apart the engine when Sam yelled, “Hey, Bug! You can stop now.”

           “I wish you’d stop calling me that. I’m not five, we’re the same age.” She said then realized what Sam had said, “Wait why can I stop.”

           “I made Dean drive into the area where the church use to be before it was burned down. Ghost can’t cross hallowed grounds.” He explained, “And also, I’m the older twin and you will always be my little sister, Bug.” He reached down to tousle her hair.

           “If you mess with my hair right now, I’ll kill you.” She threatened.

           “It’s not like I would be doing any damage. It’s a freakin mess. And you should see your face; your covered in oil.” Sam said.

           “What did you expect! I was trying to start a fire!” Dakota whined.

……….

Dakota was sitting at the wheel of the Impala while Sam was passed out on the back bench. Dean and Cassie were standing a few feet away saying their goodbyes. After a moment Dean climbed into the passenger seat and Cassie walked into view. Dakota gave her a small wave and Cassie waved back and mouthed “thank you”. Dakota was a little upset that Dean didn’t want to stick around for a few days, she really liked Cassie and thought that she was good for him.

A few minutes into the silent trip Dakota looked over at Dean and said, “I like her.” Dean nodded, but remained silent so she turned her eyes back to the road and continued, “You meet someone like her…does it ever make you wonder if it’s worth it? Putting everything else on hold? Doing what we do?” She looked over at Dean who gave her a small smile before grabbing his sunglasses from the glovebox.

           “Why don’t you wake me up when it’s my turn to drive?” He said ending the conversation.


	27. Nightmare Part 2

Dakota was fast asleep when someone started shaking her and she heard a mumbled voice saying her name. Assuming it was her current bunkmate, Dean, having a nightmare she reached over with her eyes still closed and smacked him.

           “Ow!” Dean yelled.

           “Shh! I’m tryin’ ta sleep and your hitting me.” She muttered before burrowing back into the covers.

           “I wasn’t hitting you! It was Sam.” Dean explained.

Realizing she wasn’t going to be getting anymore sleep, Dakota huffed and sat up in bed and saw her twin frantically racing around the room with no particular goal in mind.

           “Um…Hey, Sammy? Whatca doing?” Dakota asked.

           “We have to go!” Sam said as he began throwing random clothes into random duffle bags and backpacks.

           “Go where?” Dean asked groggily while Dakota propped her elbows on her knees and dropped her head into her hands.

           “We have to go! Now!” Sam repeated urgently.

Within a few minutes the very tired Winchester siblings were loaded into the Impala, Dakota and Dean still unclear where they were going. Sam told them about a premonition he had had about a man dying in his garage and that he saw the car and license plate number. Now, he was in the passenger seat on his phone, lying to some form of law enforcement to get information on the license plate and driver.

           “Sammy, relax. I’m sure it was just a nightmare.” Dean said.

Sam scoffed at that and Dean said, “I mean it. A normal, everyday, naked-in-class, nightmare. This thing wont checkout.”

           “What makes you so sure this is something, Sam?” Dakota asked leaning over the front seats.

           “It felt different, like when I dreamed about Jessica and our old house.” Sam said.

           “Well, yeah, that makes sense. You’re dreaming about _our_ house, _your_ girlfriend. This guy in your dream, you ever seen him before?” Dean asked. Sam shook his head.

           “It is kinda weird. I mean, why would you be having premonitions about some guy in Michigan?” Dakota asked.

Just then, the person on the other end of the line started talking and Sam got the information he needed.

           “How far are we?” Dakota asked.

           “From Saginaw, Michigan? A couple of hours.” Dean answered.

           “Drive faster.” Sam ordered looking dead ahead.

           “Great. I’m going back to sleep wake me when we get there.” Dakota said. She laid herself down across the back bench and pulled her headphones, turning on some quite music before dropping off to sleep.

……….

Dakota was curled up in the backseat of the Impala when all of a sudden she couldn’t breathe. She woke with a start, her eyes shooting open only to find that it was just Dean pinching her nose to woke her up.

           “Asshole!” She shouted.

           “What? You said to wake you up when we got here.” Dean said.

           “Yeah, wake me up, not suffocate me!” Dakota complained as she watched Dean get out of the car, she noticed that Sam was already out on the sidewalk talking to the officers and neighbors. She sat up and Dean’s leather jacket fell off of her lap. She didn’t remember having it when she dosed off and decided that Dean must have put it over her in her sleep. She slipped the jacket on and went to join her brothers.

           “What happened?” She asked a neighbor who was looking at the crime scene.

           “Suicide. I can’t believe it.” The woman seemed to mutter the last part to herself.

           “Did you know him?” Sam asked as they watched the coroner take the body away.

           “Saw him at church every Sunday. He always seems…seemed so normal. I guess you never know what’s going on behind closed doors.” The woman said. Dakota looked at the doorway of the house and saw a woman crying and a man not much old than herself standing there, looking sad but not devastated like the older woman next to him.

           “How are they saying it happened?” Sam asked the neighbor.

           “I heard they found him in the garage locked inside his car with the engine running.” She said.

           “And, do you know what time they found him?” Sam asked.

           “Oh, just an hour or two ago.” She said and Sam shot Dean and Dakota a pointed look over the woman’s shoulder. They had been on the road for four hours. Sam had seen this man’s death before it happened. “That poor family. I can’t even imagine what they’re going through.”

Dakota looked at her twin and saw that he was on the verge of tears. Sam quickly walked away from the group and Dakota and Dean went to follow but Dakota stopped him.

           “I’ve got this. You stay and keep questioning people.” Dakota ordered and went over to where Sam was standing by the car.

She approached him carefully and said, “Hey.” When he didn’t respond she continued, “Sam, we got here as fast as we could.”

           “Not fast enough.” He spat. “This doesn’t make any sense, Kota. Why would I have these premonitions unless there was a chance I could stop them from happening?”

           “I wish I had answers for you, but I don’t know.” Dakota said sadly.

Sam looked at the ground and kicked a rock before sighing. Dean walked over and joined them then and Dakota asked, “So what do we think killed him?”

           “Maybe the guy really did kill himself. Maye there’s nothing supernatural going on at all.” Dean said.

           “Guys, I’m telling you, I saw this happen. He was murdered by something. Something trapped him in that garage.”

           “Like a spirit or poltergeist?” Dakota asked.

           “I don’t know what it was! I don’t know why I’m having these dreams! I don’t know what the Hell is happening!” Sam shouted in a whisper.

Dakota could tell he was getting frustrated with his X-Men power and she didn’t blame him. Hers gave her killer headaches and it was difficult to differentiate between what emotions were hers and which were other people’s, but at least she could get a good night sleep and didn’t have to feel guilty about not being able to stop visions.

           “Common guys. We’ll pick this up in the morning. Check out the house, talk to the family.” Dean said walking from where he was leaning on the trunk around to the driver’s door.

           “Dean, you saw them. They’re devastated. They aren’t gonna want to talk to us.” Dakota said.

           “Yeah, you’re right. But I think I know who they will talk to.” Dean said and he waggled his eyebrows and climbed into the car. Dakota had a very bad feeling about what her big brother had planned.

……….

           “This feels so wrong.” Dakota muttered as Dean rang the doorbell.

           “Yeah, this is a whole new low, even for us.” Sam grumbled. Dean threw them a smirk and went back to staring at the door, waiting for someone to answer.

Dakota looked down at her outfit and sighed. Dean’s brilliant idea had been for he and Sam to dress as priest and for her to dress as a nun, habit and all. A middle aged man came and opened the door and Dean introduced them, “Good afternoon. I’m Father Simmons and this is Father Freely and Sister Mary Catherine. We’re new junior priests and sisters over at St. Augustine’s. May we come in?” Dean asked and the man moved aside opening the door for them to enter the house.

           “We’re very sorry for your loss.” Sam, or Father Freely, said.

It was so surreal to see her brothers dressed as priest, but then again, Dakota thought she must look ridiculous too: a nun with piercings and tattoos. She hoped no one looked too close and saw her earring holes or the tattoo she was covering with her hair. She looked down at her outfit and noticed she still had on her necklace with her mom’s engagement ring on it which she quickly tucked into her dress, figuring a nun with jewelry, especially a diamond ring would not go over well.

           “It’s in difficult times like these when the Lord’s guidance is most needed.” Dean said to the man and it took everything Dakota had not to burst out laughing at what her atheist brother was saying.

           “Look, you wanna pitch the whole, ‘the Lord has a plan’ thing, fine. Don’t pitch it to me. My brother is dead.” The man snapped.

           “Rodger!” A feminine voice said from behind them. The Winchester’s turned around and saw the woman who had been crying in front of the house last night standing there with a plate of food in her hand. “I’m sorry about my brother-in-law. He’s just so upset over Jim’s death. Would you like some coffee?” She asked.

Dakota opened her mouth to answer the question, but Dean cut her off, “Actually Sister Mary Catherine has taken the vow of silence, but knowing her I think she would love some coffee. And one for myself and Father Freely if it’s not too much trouble.” Dean said politely. Dakota’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head when Dean said she would have to stay silent. She heard Sam snicker next to her and sent him her best bitchface. They began following who Dakota assumed was Jim’s wife into the kitchen. As they were walking Dakota walked up behind Dean and kicked him in the back of the knee.

           “It’s so wonderful of you to stop by. The support of the church means so much right now.” The woman said as she poured the coffee then gestured for them to sit in the living room chairs. Dakota sat down and started drinking her coffee, looking around at the guests for anyone acting out of the ordinary.

           “Of course. After all, we are all God’s children.” Dean said. Dakota nearly did a spit take with her coffee. She looked over at Sam who was sitting in the love seat to her left and saw him roll his eyes.

Sam scoffed and Dean raised a questioning eyebrow at him, “Just…tone it down a little bit, Father.” He complained and Dakota giggled.

           “I’m sorry Sister, but aren’t you supposed to be silent?” Dean asked rhetorically. Dakota stuck her tongue out at him.

           “That’s nice. Really mature guys.” Sam said. Jim’s wife, Ms. Miller, came back into the door and sat down of the couch next to Dean and across from Sam and Dakota.

           “So, Ms. Miller. Did your husband have a history of depression?” Dean asked.

           “Nothing like that. We had our ups and downs like everyone, but we were happy.” Ms. Miller started crying and continued, “I just don’t understand how Jim could do something like this…” Her voice breaking in a sob. Dakota reached across the coffee table to the couch and grabbed one of the woman’s hands.

           “I’m so sorry you had to find him like that.” Sam said.

           “Actually our son, Max, he was the one who found him.” She said and she pointed into the next room where the man from last night was sitting, staring at a wall. Dakota immediately knew something was off about this man so she reached out her superpowers to try and get a read on his emotions, but she couldn’t feel anything. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t feeling any emotions, it was like how she could never read Sam.

           “Do you mind, if maybe I go talk to him? And perhaps Sister Mary could accompany me?” Sam asked.

           “Oh yes! Thank you, Father. Thank you Sister.” Ms. Miller said.

           “Hi Max. I’m Sam and this is Dakota. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?” Sam asked. Max nodded and Sam motioned for Dakota to sit in the available chair. She knew that normally Sam would grab it from her, but right now they needed to keep up appearances. “So what was your dad like?” Sam asked Max.

           “Just a normal dad.” Max answered plainly.

           “And you live at home now?” Sam questioned.

           “Yeah, I’m trying to save up for school, but it’s hard.” Max said, his voice catching at the end of his sentence. The poor guy seemed so upset, but it looked like it ran much deeper than just the recent death. Dakota wanted to ask him about it, but stupid Dean _had_ to make her be a silent nun!

           “So, when you found your dad…” Sam probed.

           “I woke up. I heard the engine running. I don’t know why he did it.” Max said with a complete straight face.

           “I know it’s rough losing a parent, especially when you don’t have all the answers.” Sam sympathized.

……….

Finally, after another 30 minutes of silent Hell, they left the wake and went back to the motel. Sam immediately pulled out his laptop and began researching the Miller house while Dean started cleaning all of their weapons. Dakota was reorganizing the bags that Sam had haphazardly thrown together two nights before.

After a while Dean asked, “So what have you got?”

           “A whole lotta nothing.” Sam answered, “Nothing bad has ever happened at the Miller house since it was built.”

           “What about the land?” Dakota asked as she sorted which clothes belonged to which brother.

           “No grave yards, battlefields, tribal lands, or any other kind of atrocity on or near the property.” Sam said as he walked over to the bed Dakota was sitting on and flopped down on it.

           “I told you, I search that house up and down, no cold spots, sulfur smells, nada.” Dean said reassembling one of their guns.

           “And the family said that everything was normal?” Sam asked.

           “Well, if there was a demon or a poltergeist there, I’m hoping someone would have noticed.” Dean said.

           “So, what? You think Jim Miller killed himself and my dream was some sort of freakish coincidence?” Sam asked.

           “I don’t know.” Dakota answered. She noticed that Sam was squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing his forehead.

           “Well, maybe…um maybe it’s nothing to do with the house…um.” Sam’s voice was strained like he was in pain. “Maybe it’s connected to Jim…in some other way.”

           “Sam?” Dakota asked tentatively.

           “What’s wrong with you?” Dean asked.

           “My head!” Sam said and he started falling to the floor. Dakota and Dean were off the bed and by Sam’s side in record time.

           “What’s going on! Talk to me!” Dean said grabbing Sam shoulders and Dakota rubbed his back soothingly. Sam stared off in to space for a minute before snapping back to full attention.

           “It’s happening again! Something’s going to kill Rodger Miller!” Sam said urgently.

……….

Dakota was sitting in the backseat of the Impala talking on the phone with the police, faking an investigation to get Rodger Millers address. Dean was driving as fast as he could, but he was too distracted by Sam, who was curled up in a ball in the front seat of the car. If the situation hadn’t been so urgent, Dakota would have marveled at the fact her 6’4 twin brother could make himself look so small.

           “Hey, Sammy. Are you gonna be okay?” Dakota asked as she watched him turn an unhealthy shade of green.

           “I’m fine.” Sam mumbled.

           “Are you sure? If you’re gonna hurl I’ll pull the car over, ya know, cause of the upholsteries…” Dean joked, but Dakota could feel how anxious he was about Sam’s visions and headaches.

           “I’m fine, just drive.” Sam said. They were all silent for a moment, then Sam sighed, “Dean, Dakota, I’m scared, guys. These nightmares weren’t bad enough, now I’m seeing things while I’m awake? And these vision, or whatever are getting more intense and painful.”

Dakota leaned forward and put her hand on Sam’s shoulder, it wasn’t much, but she hoped it offered him the small reminder that she was there and knew what he was going through.

           “Common, man, it’s okay. You’ll be fine.” Dean said in a gentle voice.

           “What is it about the Millers? Why am I connected to them? Why am I watching them die? Why the Hell is this happening to me?” Sam demanded.

           “Sam! It’s okay, we’ll figure this out.” Dakota reassured him.

           “Yeah, we face the unexplainable every day. This is just another thing.” Dean said.

           “No. It’s never been _us_. It’s never been in the family like this. Tell the truth, you can’t tell me this doesn’t freaking you out. Or you, Dakota.” Sam dared them.

           “It doesn’t freak me out.” Dean said after a moment of hesitation.

           “You guys seem to be forgetting that I too have recently developed weird ass powers. So, no, it doesn’t freak me out. And Dean, I can literally feel how freaked out you are. You might want to try feeling a little quieter!” Dakota snapped.

……….

The Winchester pulled up in front of Rodger’s apartment building right as he was getting home. Sam and Dean yelled for him to stop, but he ignored them and continued into the building. Dean parked the Impala and ran up to the door of the building only to find it locked. He quickly ushered them around back where he proceeded to kick open the gate. Sam took off running faster than Dakota had ever seen him run and quickly followed him up the fire escape with Dean right behind her. When they were only one floor away, Dakota heard a long bang and Sam froze in place in front of her so she pushed past him and run up to Rodger’s window. When she reached it, she discovered that they were too late. Rodger had been decapitated by his window and his head was laying in the plater box just outside.

Dakota felt her brother’s walk up behind her and Dean handed her a rag, “Here, wipe down your fingerprints, we don’t want the cops to know we were here.” Dakota began wiping all the railings down and cleaned the area near the window, just in case. “I’m going to check inside.” Dean said climbing in through the other window. After a few minutes Dean reemerged and they carefully walked back down the stairs to the car.

           “I’m telling you, there were no signs. Just like the Millers house.” Dean said.

           “I saw something in the vision. A dark shape, stalking Rodger.” Sam said. They began crossing the street when a car honked at them and Dean put his hands up in front of Sam and Dakota to stop them from crossing until the car passed.

           “Well, whatever it is, we can be sure it’s not connected to their house.” Dakota said once Dean allowed them to walk again

           “No, it’s connected to the family itself. So, what do you think, it’s like a vengeful spirit?” Sam asked.

           “Could be, there are a few that have been known to latch onto families for years.” Dean said as they reached the car and opened their doors.

           “You mean Banshees?” Dakota asked as she sat down and closed the door.

           “Yeah, like a curse. Maybe Jim and Rodger got mixed up in something heavy, something curse-worthy.” Dean guessed.

           “And now something’s out for revenge, and the men in the family are dying.” Sam said, “Hey, do you think Max is in danger?” Sam asked.

           “Hopeful we have this thing figure out before we ever have to find out.” Dakota said.

           “Well, I know one thing we have in common with these people. Both our families are cursed.” Sam scoffed.

Dakota raised her eyebrows at that; their family wasn’t by any means perfect or normal, but cursed seemed a little strong of a word.

           “Our family’s not cursed. We’ve just…had our dark spots.” Dean said.

Sam chuckled, “Our dark spots are pretty dark.”

           “Your…dark.” Dean said.

           “Wow, nice comeback Dean. You gonna let him talk to you that way, Sam?” Dakota teased.

           “Sorry, I can’t hear you from down there. What was that again?” Dean asked holding a hand up to his ear. Dakota glared at him, but she heard Sam stifle a laugh from the seat in front of her and that made it worthwhile.


	28. Nightmare Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brought to you by "Mad World" by Gary Jules

The Winchester’s went to Miller’s house the next morning, giving the family some time to mourn the loss of another family member, but also so the siblings could catch up on some sleep. They threw their priest and nun robes back on and went to talk to Max, who greeted them at the door. Dakota noticed that he looked even paler than he had the day before, the bags under his eyes even more prominent.

“My mom’s resting. She’s pretty wrecked.” Max said as he showed them into the living room. Dakota was about to say something when she remembered that she had ‘taken a vow of silence’ and cursed her stupid older brother in her mind.

           “Of course.” Dean said.

           “People kept coming with, like, casseroles. I finally had to tell them to go away. Ya know, cause nothing says ‘I’m sorry’ like a tuna casserole.” Max said. Dakota turned her head around to look in the kitchen and sure enough the entire table and most of the counters were covered in dishes with tinfoil over the tops of them. Max gestured for them to sit on the sofa while he sat in the arm chair across from them. Dakota sat in between her brothers and watched as Sam leaned forward on to his knees.

           Sam sighed and asked, “How you holding up?”

           “I’m okay.” Max said looking extremely uncomfortable. Dakota narrowed her eyes at the man, she still wasn’t sure what, but there was something off about him.

           “Your father and uncle were close?” Sam asked.

           “Yeah, I guess. I mean, they were brothers.” Max said, Dakota heard Dean let out a soft chuckle. “They use to hang out all the time when I was little. We use to be neighbors when I was a kid. We lived across town in this house, and Uncle Rodger lived next door so he was over all the time.”

           “Right, so how was it in that house when you were a kid?” Sam asked and Dakota mentally rolled her eyes. Her brothers didn’t have the word subtle in their dictionary and always sounded either stupid or crazy when questions victims.

           “All good memories? Do you remember anything unusual? Something involving your father and you uncle, maybe?” Dean asked.

Max looked terrified, “Why do you ask?” He stuttered.

           “Just a question.” Dean said.

           “No there was nothing. We were totally normal. Happy.” Max said

           “Good. Well you must be exhausted. We should probably head out. Thank you so much for your time.”  Dean said standing up from the couch. Dakota and Sam followed him out the front door. As they walked to the car Dakota ripped off her habit and groaned.

           “Dammit Dean! Why did I have to take a vow of silence!?” Dakota complained.

           “Because I am the oldest and I said so.” Dean said and Dakota huffed, crossing her arms.

           “Now, nobody’s family is totally normal and happy. You see when he was talking about his old house?” Dean continued onto the case.

           “He sounded scared.” Sam said.

           “Maybe he isn’t telling us everything.” Dakota said opening the back door and climbing into the car.

           “Yeah, I say we go find the old neighborhood. Find out what life was really like for the Millers.” Dean said sliding into the driver’s seat.

……….

After going to the hotel room and changing into normal clothes they found the Miller’s old address and went to go talk to the neighbors. An older man was out raking his front yard and Dakota, Sam, and Dean walked up to ask him some questions.

           “Hello, have you lived in the neighborhood very long?” Dakota asked.

           “Almost 20 years, why? Are you looking to buy?” He asked her.

           “No. We were just wondering if you might recall a family who use to live right across the street.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, the Millers. They had a little boy named Max.” Dean aid holding his hand palm down at his waist to mimic a small a child.

           “Any chance you remember them?” Dakota asked.

           “Yeah, I remember them. The brother had the place next door. So, what’s this about? That poor boy okay?” The man asked.

           “What do you mean?” Dakota asked with a confused look on her face.

           “Well, in my life, I’ve never seen a child treated like that. I mean, I’d hear Mr. Miller yelling and throwing things clear across the street. He was a mean drunk. Use to beat the tar out of Max…bruises, broke his arm two times that I know of.” The man confessed. Dakota felt her eyes go wide and fill with tears. No one deserved to be treated like that.

           “And this was going on regularly?” Sam asked.

           “Practically every day. In fact, that thug brother of his was just as likely to take a swing at the boy, but the worst part was the stepmother. She would just stand there, checked out, never lifted a finger to protect him. I must have called the police seven or eight times. Never did any good.” The man said.

           “You said ‘stepmother’.” Dean said, asking for some kind of explanation.

           “Yeah, his real mom died in some sort of accident, I think. Car accident I think…Are you okay?” The man asked suddenly looking at Sam. Dakota’s head shot around to look at her twin and saw that he was pinching the bridge of his nose and grimacing.

           “Thank you for your time.” Dean said grabbing Sam’s arm and pulling him back to the car. Dakota thanked the man again and took off after them.

Dakota rushed to open the back door for Dean to help Sam into. When Sam froze and stared off into the distance for a moment.

Sam’s face paled as he snapped back to the present, “It’s Max!”

……….

           “Max is doing it. Everything I been seeing. I saw it.” Sam said. Dakota turned around in her seat and looked at Sam who was curled up on the back bench.

           “How’s he pulling it off?” Dakota asked.

           “I don’t know. It looked like telekinesis.” Sam said.

           “So, he’s a psychic? He’s a spoon bender?” Dean asked.

           “I didn’t even realize it, but this whole time, he was there. He was outside the garage when his dad died. He was in the apartment when his uncle died These vision, the whole time I wasn’t connecting to the Millers, I was connecting to Max.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, which is weird, because you and Max are the only two who I can’t seem to use my psychic power on.” Dakota said.

           “The thing I don’t get is why? Maybe cause we’re so alike.” Sam wondered out loud. Dakota’s breath caught when she heard that. She shrunk down in the passenger seat and prepared herself for what she was sure to be World War 4 (with World War 3 being when Sam announced he was leaving for Stanford).

           “What are you talking about? The dude is nothing like you.” Dean said.

           “We both have psychic abilities.” Sam said.

           “So does Kota! That doesn’t prove anything!” Dean said.

           “Please don’t bring me into this.” Dakota said, turning her head towards the heavens and praying her brothers would drop this.

           “Sam, Max is a monster! He’s killed two people and now he’s gunning for a third.” Dean argued.

           “With what he went through…the beatings…to want revenge on those people, I’m sorry, man. I hate to say it, but it’s not that insane.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, but it doesn’t justify murdering your entire family. He’s no different than anything else we’ve hunted. Alright? We gotta end him.” Dean ordered.

Finally, they reached the Miller’s house and Dakota immediately reached for the door handle wanting to get away from the fight.

Right as she cracked the door open Sam said in a quiet, but serious voice, “We’re not going to kill Max.”

           “Then what? Hand him over to the cops and say ‘Lock him up, Officer. He kills with the power of his mind’.” Dean said sarcastically.

           “Sammy, I hate to admit it, but maybe Dean has a point. Plus, if he is telekinetic, who’s to say he can’t just unlock a cell and walk out.” Dakota reasoned.

           “Forget it. No way, guys. He’s a person, we can talk to him.” Sam said. “You guys promise to follow my lead on this one?”

           “Alright fine. But I’m not letting him hurt anyone else.” Dean said and he reached over Dakota to grab the gun from the glove box then climbed out of the car, followed quickly by Dakota who wanted to get as far away from the tension in the car as possible.

They ran up to the front door and immediately the boys broke it down, not even bothering to check if it was locked. Max and Ms. Miller stood in the kitchen squaring off like they were arguing about something.

           “What are you doing here?” Max asked in a strained voice.

           “Um…sorry to interrupt.” Dakota said.

           “Sister, I thought you couldn’t speak.” Ms. Miller said, “Fathers, what’s going on?”

           “Max, could we talk with you outside for a sec?” Sam asked ignoring the woman’s question.

           “About what?” Max challenged.

           “Um…It’s private. We wouldn’t want to bother your mother with it. We won’t be long at all though, I promise.” Sam said.

           “Okay.” Max said and he slowly started walking towards them. Dakota got to the door first and barely had it opened before it was slammed shut by an invisible force. She spun around and saw all the windows and shutters close as well. Dean reached into the back of his pants and grabbed his gun, but it flew out of his hand and landed at Max’s feet. Dakota watched in horror as the madman reached down and grabbed the gun and pointed it at Dakota, Sam, and Dean who had huddled together.

           “Max! What’s going on? What are you doing?” Ms. Miller asked.

           “Shut up!’ Max commanded. Suddenly Ms. Miller flew several feet back and hit her head on the counter and crumbled to the ground.

           “Max, we just want to talk.” Sam said.

           “That’s why you brought this!?” Max yelled, refereeing to the gun.

           “That was a mistake, so was lying about who we are, but no more lying okay? Just, please hear me out.” Sam begged.

           “About what?” Max growled.

           “I saw you do it. I saw you kill your dad and uncle before it happened. I’ve been having vision, Max. About you.” Sam said.

           “You’re crazy!” Max yelled. Dakota rolled her eyes, naturally the murderer holding a gun at them would think they’re the crazy ones. Dean took a small step in front of Dakota, which also put him closer to Sam. Dakota hoped this was just his big brother mode kicking in and he wasn’t about to do something stupid.

           “So you weren’t gonna launch a knife your stepmom?” Sam asked sassily. “You’ve seen what you can do Max! I was drawn here. I think I’m here to help you.” Sam said.

Max let out a broken sob, “No one can help me.”

           “Let us try.” Sam said. “Just you and me. We’ll get Dean, Dakota, and Alice out of here.”

           “What?” Dakota gasped.

           “No way!” Dean said as the chandelier above them started shaking.

           “Nobody leaves this house!” Max yelled.

           “And they don’t have to, they’ll just go upstairs.” Sam said.

           “Sam, I’m not leaving you here with him.” Dean said.

           “Me neither.” Said Dakota, not taking her eyes off the gun that was still trained on them.

           “Yes, you are.” Sam said.

           “Max, you’re in charge here. We all know that. No one’s gonna do anything that you don’t want to do. But I’m talking five minutes here, man.” Sam said. Dakota looked up at the chandelier that was still shaking.

           “Five minutes. That’s it.” Max said. Then he turned the gun onto Dean and Dakota, “Go!” He shouted. Dean grabbed Dakota’s hand and dragged her over to were Alice was unconscious. Dean scooped her into his arms, then ushered Dakota up the stairs.

Dean and Dakota were sitting in one of the upstairs bedrooms cleaning Alice’s head wound in silence. The door gently swung open and Dakota stood up, expecting to see Sam standing there saying it was safe to come down. Instead, Max was standing at the threshold of the room with tear stained cheeks. Dakota glared at him and he nodded his head. Next thing she knew she was flying across the room, straight into a wall before dropping down on top of a dresser. Dakota groaned and held her now very bruised ribs before standing back up to face Max who was pointing a gun at Dean. Max slowly lowered his hand and Dakota’s jaw dropped as the gun floated forward and turned on Alice.

           “If you wanna kill her, you’re going to have to go through me.” Dean said taking a step in front of Alice.

Max smirked and whispered, “Okay.” And with that he pulled the trigger.

Dakota felt every emotion from everyone in the room hit her at once like a train, her head was pounding almost as fast and loud as her heart, her palms were sweaty and hands shaking, she could barely breath and her vision blurred.

           “Stop!” Dakota screamed at the top of her lungs. And sure enough it stopped. The bullet froze just an inch from Dean’s forehead, suspended in midair. Dakota felt a small trickle of blood leak out of her nose. Everyone in the room froze and looked at the bullet, but before anyone could say anything Sam broke the door down.

           “No! Don’t do it Max!” Sam yelled.

Max turned and looked at Sam for a moment then turned the gun on himself and fired.

……….

Once everyone got their story straight, Alice called the police to the house and Dakota, Sam, and Dean stayed for the police questioning.

Once they were cleared to leave, they slowly began trudging back to the Impala. Sam whispered, “If I had just said something else…gotten through to him.”

           “Don’t torture yourself. It didn’t matter what you said, Max was too far gone.” Dean said.

           “When I think about how he looked at me, man, right before…I should have done something.” Sam said shaking his head.

           “Sam, you risked your life. Maybe if we’d gotten there 20 years earlier.” Dakota said.

As they approached the car Sam said, “Well I’ll tell you one thing. We’re lucky we had Dad.”

Dakota froze with her hand on the door handle and looked over at Dean who was equally shocked.

           “I’m sorry. What?” Dakota asked teasingly.

           “I never thought I’d hear you say that.” Dean said with a small smile.

           “Well, it could have gone a whole other way after Mom. A little more tequila, a little less demon hunting, then we would have had Max’s childhood.” Sam said.

           “Yeah, but his Mom died in a car crash.” Dakota said.

           “No she didn’t. The neighbor we talked to got his stories wrong. She died the exact same way as Mom, pinned to the ceiling over his crib, on fire.” Sam confessed

Dakota was still in shock from what Sam had told them about Max’s mother.

           “What?” Dean whispered next to her.

           “I know, I was surprised too. But, maybe this could be a good thing. It’s a lead, a pattern. Maybe it can help us find Dad.” Sam said.

Dean looked uncertain as he climbed into the car. Dakota and Sam shared a look over the hood before climbing in.

……….

They went back to their motel room and started packing everything back up.

           “Hey, guys. I’ve been thinking.” Dakota said from one of the beds were she was cleaning a packing weapons.

           “Well, that’s never good.” Dean teased.

           “Yeah, don’t strain yourself, Bug.” Sam said as he walked in from putting more bags from the trunk.

           “I’m being serious.” Dakota snapped, “I’ve been thinking why would this demon or whatever it is kill Mom and Jessica and Max’s mother, ya know. What does it want? Like, do you think it was after us? After Sam, Max, me?”

           “Why would you think that?” Dean questioned.

           “She has a point, either telekinesis, premonitions, or empathy, we all have abilities, right? Maybe it was after us for some reason.” Sam said shuffling threw some papers on the desk.

           “Sam, Kota, if it wanted you, it would have just taken you, okay? This isn’t your fault, it’s not about you two.” Dean said, attempting to end the discussion.

           “Then, what _is_ it about?” Dakota asked.

           “It’s about the damn thing that did this to our family. The thing that we’re going to find, the thing that we’re kill, and that’s all.” Dean said.

           “Actually, there’s something else too. When Max locked me in that closet with that big cabinet against the door, I moved it.” Sam rushed.

           “You’ve got a little more upper body strength then I give you credit for.” Dean said chuckling, but Dakota knew what Sam really meant.

           “No, I moved it, with my mind.” Sam said.

           “And I know you saw me stop that bullet earlier, Dean.” Dakota said.

           “Oh, right.” Dean said then he started riffling around in one of the drawers before holding a spoon up to them, “Bend this.”

           “I can’t turn it on and off, Dean” Sam sassed.

           “Speak for yourself, mine’s always on! It’s driving me crazy feeling everyone’s emotions all the time. Although, this is the first time I was able to stop something from moving.” Dakota confessed.

           “Well, how’d you do it?” Dean asked.

           “I don’t know. I can’t control it. I saw you die and it just came out of me, like a punch, like a freak adrenaline thing.” Sam said.

Dean paused for a second then threw the spoon down and looked at them wearily, “I’m sure it won’t happen again.” He said and he walked over to the bad Dakota was sitting on and threw some of her clothes down next to her for her to pack in her duffle bag.

           “Aren’t you worried?” Dakota asked Dean. “Aren’t you worried that we’ll turn into Max?”

           “Nope, you know why? Because you two have one advantage that Max didn’t have. Me. As long as I’m around, nothing bad is going to happen to you two.” Dean said confidently with a cocky smile.

           “Now then, I know what we need to do about your premonitions. I know where we have to go.” Dean said as he gathered his things to walk out the door.

           “Where?” Sam and Dakota asked at the same time.

           “Vegas.” Dean answered before his face broke out into a huge grin.

           “Yea! Let’s do it!” Dakota said grabbing her things. Sam just scoffed at them then walked out the door.

……….

Dean woke up around 2:00 am in their Vegas hotel room wondering why the hell he was awake. He looked to his right to find Dakota sitting up in bed with a spoon in her hand and the look of concentration on her face.

“Kota, what the hell are you doing?” Dean said in a tired voice.

“I’m gonna bend this damn spoon even if it kills me.” She responded through gritted teeth.

“Okay, time to go to sleep, sweetie.”


	29. Shadow Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m skipping episode 15 “The Bender” because as much as I love the episode, it wasn’t important to the overall plot line and this fic is getting really long.

“Okay, this is the place. Pull over here.” Dakota instructed from the backseat of the Impala. Dutifully, Dean pulled the car over and put it in park. Sam still had his head buried in a paper from last week that held the story of their current case. A young woman in Chicago had been killed in her apartment with the alarm set. So here they were a week later, dressed up as representatives from the alarm company the victim was using.

Dean climbed out of the car and walked to the trunk so Dakota leaned forward and blew a cold stream of air into Sam’s left ear to get his attention.

        “Ah! What the Hell, Dakota!” Sam shouted, jumping out of his seat and his hand flying to his ear.

        “We’re here. Time to go to work.” Dakota said before climbing out just as Dean was closing the trunk, a tool box in hand.

        “Ya know, I gotta say Sam, me, Kota, and Dad got by just fine without these stupid costumes. I feel like a high school drama dork.” Dean said looking at his outfit in disgust then suddenly got a fond smile on his face, “What was that play you two were in? ‘Our Town’! It was good. You two were cute.”

        “Both of us were in ‘Our Town’ and then I was in ‘Oklahoma’ and Sam did tech for it.” Dakota corrected.

Sam shook his head, “Look, you wanna pull this off or not?”

        “Look all I’m saying is these outfits cost hard earned money.” Dean said.

        Dakota laughed and Sam chuckled, “Whose money?” he asked.

        “Ours! Do you think credit card fraud is easy!?” Dean asked rhetorically.

They made it across the street to the apartment building and convinced the landlady to let them look around the apartment.

        “Thanks again for letting us look around.” Dakota said as the woman unlocked the door and let them in.

        “Well, the police said they were done with this place so I figure it won’t be a problem.” She said. Dakota, Dean, and Sam walked further into the apartment and found the livingroom where the victim was murdered.

        “You three said you were from the alarm company?” The woman asked.

        “Yes ma’am.” Dakota said.

        “Well, no offense honey, but your alarm is about as useful as boobs on a man.”

        “Well that’s why we’re here. Find out what happened and stop it from happening again.” Dean assured her.

Dakota and Dean started inspecting the windows for any signs of sulfur and walking around attempting to locate cold spots while Sam and the landlady talked.

        “Windows were locked; so was the door. We had to cut through the chain just to get in here. And the alarm was still set. Like I said, bang-up job your company is doing.” Dakota heard the woman explained from where she and Sam were standing in the threshold of the room. “Everything was in perfect condition…except Meredith.”

        “In what condition was Meredith?” Dakota asked looking up from one of the windows.

        “Meredith was in pieces! She was all over the floor. The guy who killed her must have been some kind of a whackjob!” She exclaimed. Dakota turned completely away from the window and walked over to the nearest blood splatter to see if she noticed anything. If I didn’t know any better, I’d said a wild animal did it.” Dakota looked up at Dean who was looking at Sam. She could tell they were all thinking the same thing. The landlady excused herself and Dean knelt down next to the tool box and tossed Dakota and Sam there EMF detectors.

        “So, a killer walks in and out of the apartment, no weapons, no prints, nothing.” Dean summarized.

        “I told you, as soon as I found that article, that this was I knew this was our kinda gig.” Sam said.

        “Well good for you.” Dakota sassed as she passed around the living room watching the EMF spike off the charts. “Dean, you said you talked to the cops, right?”

        “Yeah, I spoke to Amy, a charming, perky, officer of the law.” Dean said and even though Dakota wasn’t facing him she could tell that he had his ridiculously cocky smile plastered on his face.

        ‘What did you find out?” Sam asked.

        “Well, she’s a Sagittarius, she loves tequila…I mean, woah…oh! And she’s got this little tattoo right…” Dean listed before Sam and Dakota cut him off.

        “Dean!” They both scolded turning away from the windows they were scanning.

        “Right…uh…nothing we don’t already know, expect one thing they were keeping out of the papers.” Dean said. Dakota gave a hum from where she was scanning the sofa, indicating for Dean to continue, “Meredith’s heart was missing.” Dakota’s head shot up and she looked at Dean, then turned to look at Sam.

        “Her heart?” Sam asked, “So, what do you think did it to her?”

        “Didn’t the landlady say that it looked like an animal attack? Maybe it’s a werewolf.’ Dakota suggested as she walked towards the center of the room as Sam and Dean did the same thing.

        “No. No werewolf. Lunar cycle’s not right.” Sam pointed out. “Plus if it was a creature it would have left some kind of trace. It’s probably a spirit.”

Dakota noticed that Dean was staring at a particular blood splatter on the carpet. “Dean?” She asked.

        “See if you can find any masking tape.” Dean asked them.

Sam looked at Dakota with a confused expression, but Dakota had long since learned to roll with the punches and walked over to the toolbox Dean had brought in and grabbed some painters tape. She tossed it to Dean who immediately dropped to his knees and started taping the larger blood stains together in a pattern.

        “Have you guys ever seen that symbol before?” Sam asked when Dean was done taping. Both Dakota and Dean shook their heads. Before lay a circle with what looked like a S going through it.

……….

Later that night, The Winchester’s went to a local bar to “gather information” as Dean said. Sam had backed out, saying he wanted to go back to the motel room to work on the case.

Dean went straight to the bar to talk to the bartender and Dakota saw some guys her age standing around a pool table and decided that would be a good place to go look for some information and some fun. After a few drinks and some flirting, she sunk the last ball in the pocket and collected her money right as she spotted a frazzled Sam walk into the bar.

        “Well boys, it’s been a pleasure, but I’d better get going.” Dakota said pocketing her earnings.

        “Oh, common hun! You aren’t even going to give us a chance to win our money back?” One of the boys Dakota had been flirting with asked.

        “Better luck next time, boys.” She said and walked up to her twin brother, “What’s up?”

Sam sat down at a table and pulled out their dad’s hunting journal and began taking out articles relative to the case. Dakota sat down cross legged at the seat across from him and asked one of the waiters to grab her three whiskeys. Dean sauntered up with a big smile on his face and sat down to Dakota’s left.

        “So, I talked to the bartender.” Dean said.

        “Did you get anything?” Dakota asked.

        “Besides her number?” Sam muttered.

        “Dude, I’m a professional! I’m offended that you would think that!” Dean said, Dakota raised an eyebrow at him and he pulled out a napkin with a phone number written on it.

        “You mind doing a bit of thinking with your upstairs brain, Dean?” Dakota sassed.

        “Oh, cause you did so much better! There’s nothing to find out. Meredith worked here, everybody here is her friend, everybody says she’s normal, she didn’t do or say anything weird before she died.” Dean explained.

        “Yeah, the guys said about the same thing.” Dakota said. “Guys?” Dean asked looking around for them with a look on his face like he was going to kill them, but Dakota quickly waved him off. “Anyways, Sam, did you find anything on that symbol?”

        “No. It wasn’t in Dad’s journal or any of the usual books.” Sam sighed.

        “Just going to have to dig a little deeper, I guess.” Dakota said as the waiter came over with their whiskeys. Dakota noticed that the napkin under hers had a phone number written on it. She looked over her shoulder and saw the waiter smile at her. She smiled back and waved.

        “Kota!” She heard Dean say loudly, trying to get her attention.

        “Hm? What were we talking about?” She asked.

        “Well, Sammy and I were discussing the first victim while you were making heart eyes at the waiter.” Dean said bitterly.

        “Shut up.” She snapped throwing him a bitchface before turning to Sam. “Was there any connections between the victims?” She asked.

        “Yeah, he was found about a month ago in his town house. Same deal: mutilated body, door locked alarm set. I haven’t found a connection yet. This guy, Ben was a banker and Meredith was a waitress. It’s like they were from two different worlds.” Sam said.

        “So, to recap, the only useful tidbit we got was the bartender’s phone number.” Dean said with a cocky smile. Dakota leaned, slapped Dean’s arm and glared at him. She hated that Dean thought he could flirt with the bartender, but God forbid she get to have fun with the waiter for once! Sam abruptly stood up and walked away from their table: Dakota turned over her shoulder to see where he was going, but was distracted by someone slapping her arm.

“Ow!” She exclaimed grabbing her arm.

“See what you did!? You made him leave.” Dean said gesturing in the direction Sam had disappeared in.

“Screw you.” Dakota said and she stood up to follow Sam. She wasn’t really angry at Dean, he was just really protective of Sam and her and she couldn’t blame him for that. She could feel Dean following her and soon enough they made it to where Sam was standing at the very back of the bar talking to a girl about Dakota’s height and age with blond hair cut in a pixie style.

The two were deep in conversation so Dakota looked over to Dean who cleared his throat, but the two just kept talking.

Dean cleared his throat again and the woman, Meg, Dakota thought she heard Sam say, looked over at him, “Dude, cover your mouth.” Dakota couldn’t suppress the laugh that came out of her.

“I’m sorry Meg. This is my brother Dean and my sister Dakota.” Sam introduced.

“Hi. Nice to meet you”, Dakota said politely and she held her hand out for Meg to shake. Meg looked shocked and turned back to Sam.

“This is Dean and Dakota?” She questioned. Dakota dropped her hand and wondered what Sam had told this mystery woman about them.

“It’s nice the way you treat your brother like luggage.” Meg snapped. Dakota’s face scrunched up in confusion and she looked over to Dean who seemed equally as puzzled. “Why don’t you guys just let him do what he wants. Stop dragging him over God’s green Earth!”

“Meg. It’s alright.” Sam said in a calming tone, but Dakota wasn’t feeling anything, but calm and she could feel Dean’s anger and annoyance hanging over him like a dark cloud. Dakota wondered who this Meg was and why Sam was talking crap about her and Dean to this girl.

“Okay, well this has been fun.” Dakota said sarcastically.

“Yeah, awkward. I’m going to get a drink now. Kota, wanna come with?” Dean asked and he grabbed her arm and dragged her to the bar.

They sat down at two barstools in silence for a moment before Dakota just said, “Wow.”

“Yeah.” Dean agreed.

“I mean…what just happened?”

“Our darling brother has been talking shit about us to random women.”

“But, who is she? When did they meet? Where did they meet?”

“I don’t know.”

They sat in silence for another moment while the bartender Dean had been flirting with earlier came to take their drink orders. They both got a whiskey, double, neat.

“I’m really mad at him right now.” Dakota whispered and she crossed her arms in front of her, not in anger, but in self doubt. She hated hearing from a stranger that her twin brother hates traveling with her and Dean.

Dean opened his mouth to say something, but Sam chose that moment to show back up.

“Hey guys, let’s go.” Sam said and he started walking outside. Dakota downed her whiskey, threw some money on the table and got up to follow him. Once they were outside Dakota and Dean started interrogating Sam.

“Who the Hell was she?” Dakota asked.

“I don’t really know. I only meet her once.” Sam confessed as he tucked their dad’s journal into his inside jacket pocket. “Meeting up with again…I don’t know guys. It’s weird.” He said as they stepped off the curb and into the street.

“So, what? You were bitching about us to some chick?” Dean asked angrily.

“Look, I’m sorry. It’s when we had that huge fight and I was in that bus stop in Indiana.” Sam said.

“You mean when you two couldn’t put aside your emotional baggage for five minute to save a few lives?” Dakota sassed.

“Well, is there any truth to what she’s saying? Are we keeping you against your will, Sam!?” Dean shouted as they got to the other side of the street.

“Would you stop and listen to me for a second! I think there’s something strange going on here.” Sam said.

“Well, yeah. We’re here for a job. I would be more worried if there wasn’t something going on here.” Dakota said.

“Look, I met Meg weeks ago on the side of the road and now I run into her in some random Chicago bar? The same bar where a waitress was slaughtered by something supernatural.” Sam pointed out. “There is something about this girl that I can’t quite put my finger on.”

“I’d bet you’d like to.” Dean said with a cocky smile, “Maybe she’s not a suspect, maybe you like her. Maybe you’re thinking a little too much with your upstairs brain.”

“Oh my God, I am not being involved in this conversation! If you need me I will be by the car.” Dakota said throwing her hands up in surrender and turning to walk away.

“Wait!” Sam said so she reluctantly stopped and turned back around. “Guys, do me a favor. Check if there is really a Meg Masters from Massachusetts and see if you can’t dig anything up on that symbol on Meredith’s floor.”

“What are you going to do?” Dakota asked.

“I’m gonna watch Meg.” Sam said.

Dean laughed and smiled, “Yeah you are.”

“Okay! I’m not going to stand out here in the freezing cold listening to my brothers talk about this. Dean give me the keys, I’ll warm the car.” Dakota said holding out her hand. Dean pulled the keys out of his jacket with an eyeroll and placed them in her open palm. Dakota turned and as she walked away she could still faintly hear them talking. She unlocked the Impala and climbed into the front passenger seat, leaning over to put the keys in the ignition and turn the car on. She sighed when she finally felt the warm air come out of the vents.

……….

Dakota and Dean went back to their motel room to look for information on Ms. Meg Masters and on the symbol in Meredith’s apartment. They split the work, Dakota taking the symbol and Dean taking the mystery woman.

“Find anything yet?” Dean asked. Dakota shook her head, not looking up from the book that she was only about half way through. “Well, I found information on Meg so I’m gonna call Sammy and let him know.

“Okay.” Dakota muttered writing down some notes on a separate piece of paper.

Dakota heard Dean talking to Sam on the phone, but quickly tuned it out as she turned the page in her book and found the symbol.

“Hey, guys, I found it!” She exclaimed.

“What?” Dean asked pulling the phone from his ear.

“I found the symbol. Quick! Put it on speaker.” She said standing up and walking over to where Dean was sitting. Dean put the phone on the desk and hit the speaker button.

“The symbol is Zoroastrian. Very, very old school. It’s about 2000 years before Christ. It’s a sigil for a Daeva which translates to ‘demon of darkness’. Zoroastrian demons are savage and animalistic.” Dakota explained as she sat down at the table in the seat across from Dean.

“So, they’re like demonic pitbulls?”  Dean asked leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. Dakota nodded.

“How did you figure this out?” Sam asked over the phone.

“Excuse you! Just because I didn’t go to an Ivy League school doesn’t mean I don’t know how to research!…Also I texted Dad’s friend Caleb earlier and he told me which book to find it in.” Dakota confessed. “Look! The point is Daevas have to be summoned”

“So, someone is controlling it.” Sam summarized.

“Yes, and it’s not an easy job. Looks like they tend to bite the hand that feeds them.” Dakota said leaning forward on to her forearms.

“What do they look like?” Dean asked.

“No one knows. They haven’t been seen for a couple millenia. Summoning a demon this ancient takes some real power and knowledge.” Dakota said. Everyone was silent for a moment.

“Hey Sam, are you still outside that girl’s apartment?” Dean asked suddenly with a big smile on his face. A look of worry crossed Dakota’s face as she guessed what filth was about to come out of Dean’s mouth.

When Sam confirmed his location, Dean said, “Why don’t you go knock on her door and give that girl a private strip-o-gram?”

Dakota dropped her head into her hands as Sam said, “Bite me.”

“Bite her. Don’t leave marks though…” Dean started, but Dakota cut him off by grabbing the phone from the center of the table and hanging it up.

“Hey! I was talking!” Dean said.

“No, you were fantasizing.” Dakota mocked and Dean glared at her.


	30. Shadow Part 2

Dakota was pacing around the motel room trying to process all the information she had just learned when Sam walked in through the door. She noticed Dean sit up on the bed that he had been laying down on, but paid him no mind as she walked up to her twin.

“Dude, we need to talk.” They both said at the same time.

“Ugh! Twins were bad enough, but psychic twins!? Is you two talking at the same time going to be a regular thing?” Dean groaned.

Dakota rolled her eyes at Dean and then looked back to Sam, “You were saying?”

Sam told them about how he had followed Meg to an abandoned warehouse and saw her in front of a black altar and talking to someone through a goblet of blood.

“So,  hot, little Meg is summoning the Daeva?” Dean said with an angry tone.

“And she has a black altar to control it.” Dakota added on

Dean paced back and forth for a second before looking at Sam, “So, Sammy’s got a thing for the bad girls?” he smirked.

“Seriously! We’re in the middle of something.” Dakota said throwing her arms up from where she was leaning on the doorframe between the living area and the bedroom of their motel room. Sam just rolled his eyes.

“All right! What’s the deal with that bowl again?” Dean said in all seriousness.

“She was talking into it! The witches would with crystal balls or animal entrails. She was communicating with someone.” Sam said standing up from where he was sitting on the bed.

“With who?” Dean asked.

“Maybe the Daeva?” Dakota guessed.

“No, you said those things were savages. No, this was someone different. Someone who was giving her orders. Someone, who’s coming to that warehouse.” Sam explained.

Dean got a look of realization on his face and went over to the other bed and started going through one of their bags. Dakota leaned off of the doorway and took a step into the room.

“What are you looking for?” She asked.

“The file we were going to tell Sam about earlier.” Dean said pulling out said file.

“Oh, yeah! We went back over the victim’s history and we found that we missed something last time.” Dakota said remembering that she had wanted to tell Sam about their discovery.

“Okay, what is it?” Sam asked.

“The old man spent his whole life in Chicago, but that’s not where he was born. He was born in Lawrence, Kansas.” Dean said. Dakota watched Sam’s eyes go wide.

“And Meredith was adopted, but she was born in Lawrence too.” Dakota said.

Sam was silent for a second before plopping down on the bed across from Dean, “Holy crap.” He finally said.

“My words exactly.” Dakota said walking over to sit next to Sam.

“I mean, that is where the demon killed Mom. That is where everything started.” Sam said staring off into nothing. Dakota looked over and saw a flash of hurt cross Dean’s face like it always did when someone mentioned their mom.

“So, we thinking Meg is tied up with the demon?” Dakota asked.

“It’s definitely a possibility.” Dean said.

Sam leaned forward and said, “But I don’t understand. What’s the significance of Lawrence? And how do the Daevas fit in?”

“I don’t know, but I think we need to focus on the problem at hand.” Dakota said.

“I say we trash the black altar, grab Meg, and have ourselves a friendly little interrogation.” Dean said.

“That’s a bad idea. We don’t wanna tip her off.” Dakota argued.

“I agree, we should stake out the warehouse and see who or what is coming to meet her.” Sam said.

“Okay…but I don’t think we should do this alone.” Dean said. Dakota’s face fell as she understood what Dean meant and she knew without looking at him that her twin was wearing a similar expression.

……….

Dakota was sitting on the sofa while Dean talked to their dad, or at least their dad’s voicemail. Sam had gone out to the car to grab some weapons for the stake out. She heard the motel door open and her jaw dropped as she saw Sam carry in two huge, full duffel bags full of weapons. He dropped them on the bad as Dean hung up the phone.

“What did you grab?” Dean asked.

“I ransacked that trunk.” Sam said unzipping the first bag. Dakota walked over and peeked in the bag and saw that Sam had grabbed almost every weapon they own.

“Better over prepared than under, I guess.” Dakota said picking up one of the sawed-offs and loading it.

“So, big night.” Dean said.

“Yeah, you guys nervous?” Sam asked.

“Nope.” Dakota answered honestly.

“No!” Dean answered defensively. Dakota could feel that he was nervous. “Why are you?” he asked Sam. Dakota rolled her eyes at how stupid they were being.

“No way!” Sam said quickly. Dakota slapped her hand not holding the gun against her forehead and sighed.

They continued loading their weapons in silence, “God, could you imagine if we actually caught that damn thing?” Sam said with a small smile.

Dakota felt a smile tug her lips, “I honestly wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”

“Wow, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Dean cautioned.

“I know.” Sam said and he looked down and continued loading guns.

“Yeah, but what if we did? What if this whole thing was over tonight?” Dakota asked.

“Man, I’d sleep for a month.” Sam said with dreamy look on his face and Dakota nodded in agreement. “I’d go back to school, just be a person again.” Now Dakota’s smile was gone; she looked over at Dean and saw him tense up.

“You wanna go back to school?” Dean asked. He sounded genuinely confused, but Dakota wasn’t. She loved having Sam back around with them, but she knew that he wouldn’t stay. This life had never been the one he wanted and even though she missed him like crazy when he was gone, she loved her twin and respected his wishes. She knew that if she had gone through with her earlier dream of going to college, she would have wanted to go back too.

“Yeah I’m going back, once we’re done hunting the thing. Why is there something wrong with that?” Sam asked. Dakota could feel a fight coming on, she didn’t need X-Men powers to tell when her brothers were going to fight.

“No, no, it’s great. Good for you.” Dean said. Dakota ran her hand over her face at Dean’s obvious lie.

“What are you guys going to do when this is over?” Sam asked. Dakota opened her mouth to answer, but Dean bet her to the punch.

“It’s never going to be over. There’s always going to be something else out there. There’s always going to be something to hunt.” Dean said coldly as he strapped on a wrist guard.

“But there’s gotta be something you want for yourself.” Sam said.

“Yeah! I don’t want you to leave the second this thing’s over, Sam!” Dean said before angrily walking out the door. Sam sighed.

“What about you, Kota? What do you want?” Sam asked he asked turning towards her. Dakota froze up. Now would be the time to tell them that she wanted to go to school, that she had got a full ride years earlier, but turned it down so Sam could go, that she had always wanted to get out of the life, but never complained about the hand she was dealt in life and how that was all bottled up inside like a tornado of emotions, but that she had to be the strong one, the one that held the family together when they were always on the edge of collapsing.

“I don’t know. I’ll figure something out.” Dakota lied.

Dean walked back in the room then looking much more calm and said, “Why do you think I drag you everywhere, huh? Why do you think Kota and I came and got you at Stanford in the first place?” Dean asked.

“Cause Dad was in trouble.” Sam said.

“Cause you wanted to find the thing that killed Mom.” Dakota said.

“Yes that! But there’s more than that!” Dean said. He turned away from them and grabbed the dresser with a white knuckle grip and shook his head. “You and me and Kota and Dad, I wanted us to be together again. I wanted us to be a family again.” He confessed.

“Dean, we are a family.” Dakota said sweetly.

“I would do anything for you, but things are never going to be the way they were before.” Sam said.

“But they could be.” Dean pleaded.

“I don’t want them to be.” Sam confessed and Dakota watched and felt a dark cloud of sadness fall onto Dean’s shoulders as his eyes watered up. “I’m not going to live this life forever.”

“ Dean, when this is all over, you’re going to have to let us go our own way.” Dakota said and Dean looked at her in shock and anger. Her eyes widened when she realized she had said ‘us’.

……….

Dakota found herself beside her brothers in the warehouse inside an old fashion elevator hanging from the vertical, metal bars so that just the tops of their heads peeked over the top to see what Meg was doing. She was standing before the black altar muttering an incantation in Latin. On the side of the elevator some of the bars had been bent so that a person could squeeze through. Sam climbed through the hole first keeping his body turned towards Meg the whole time. Dakota reached her arm out and handed him a gun which he took without even looking. Dakota climbed through next followed by Dean. They went to the back of the warehouse where there were wooden crates piled up. Dean handed her a shotgun and Dakota placed it on top of one of the crates, lining up her shot.

“Guys, hiding is a little childish, don’t you think?” Meg said without turning to face them. She turned over her shoulder and smiled at them.

“Well that didn’t go as planned.” Dean said.

“No shit, Sherlock!” Dakota snapped.

“Why don’t you come out?” Meg asked in a sickly sweet voice and she took a few steps towards them. All three stood up and pointed their weapons at her. Meg walked over to Sam, “Ya know, I have to say this puts a real crimp in our relationship.”

“So, where’s your little Daeva friend?” Dakota asked.

Meg shrugged, grinning devilishly, “Around. And that shotgun’s not going to do much good.”

“Oh, don’t worry sweetheart. This shotgun’s not for the Daeva.” Dean answered.

“So who is it Meg? Who’s coming? Who are you waiting for?” Sam asked.

“You.” Meg answered. Suddenly Sam and Dean were thrown back against the crates behind them by an invisible force. Dakota was thrown to the ground by Meg’s feet, hitting her head hard on the floor. Just before her vision blackout entirely she felt a set of claws rake down her right cheek, cutting deep and causing her to let out a blood curdling scream.

……….

The first thing Dakota heard as she started to come to was Dean saying, “Hey Sam. Don’t take this the wrong way, but your girlfriend? She’s a bitch.”

Dakota scrunched her nose and started to lift her head, but the minute she did it started pounding. She groaned in pain.

“Kota?” Sam and Dean asked at the same time.

“Give me a minute.” She muttered. With every ounce of strength she had, she lifted her head up to lean it back on the wooden post she was currently tied to. She didn’t have the energy to look over to her right, but she was willing to bet her brothers were in a similar state.

“This whole thing was a trap. Running into you at the bar. Following you here. Hearing what you had to say. It was all a setup wasn’t it.” Sam asked.

Meg chuckled darkly and Dakota asked, “And that the victims were all from Lawrence?”

“Doesn’t mean anything. It was just a set up to draw you in.” Meg said sitting on a crate away facing them.

“You killed those two people for nothing!” Sam spat.

“Baby, I’ve killed a lot more for a lot less.” Meg confessed sounding very prideful.

“So you’ve trapped us. Good for you. Why don’t you kill us already?” Dean asked.

“Please don’t give her any ideas.” Dakota pleaded.

“You’re not very quick are you? This trap isn’t for you.” Meg told him.

Dakota’s brain was too foggy still to connect the pieces, but apparently Sam could. “Dad. It’s a trap for Dad.” he whispered.

“Oh sweetheart. You’re dumber than you look. Even if Dad was in town, which he’s not he wouldn’t walk into something like this. He’s too good.” Dean teased.

“He is pretty good, I’ll give you that.” Meg said then she stood up from the box she had been sitting on and sauntered over to Dean. She sat down on his legs. “But you see he has one weakness.”

“What’s that?” Dean asked as Meg twirled his jacket in her fingers. Dakota started to fidget with the rope binding her hands. She felt it bite into her skin, but ignored it for the sake of getting free. She could feel blood still flowing slowly from the scratches on her cheek.

“You. He lets his guard down around his boys and his little girl, lets his emotions control his judgement. I happen to know that he is in town and that he will try and come save you three and then the Daeva will kill everybody. Nice and slow…” Meg looked over at Dakota then, “and messy.”

“Well, I’ve got news for you. It’s gonna take a lot more than some…shadow to kill us.” Dakota said confidently.

“Oh honey. The Daevas are in the room here. They’re invisible. Their shadows are just the only part you can see.” Meg explained keeping her eyes on Dean

“Why are you doing this, Meg?” Sam asked and Dakota turned her head to look at her brother who had stayed silent for most of the exchange. “What kinda deal you got worked out here? And with who?”

Meg was still staring at Dean, “I’m doing this for the same reason you do what you do. Loyalty , love.” Dakota rolled her eyes and she saw Sam shake his head. She couldn’t see Dean very well from where she was. “Like the love you had for Mommy…and Jess.” Meg smirked.

“Go to Hell.” Sam said with a dead serious expression.

“I second that.” Dakota agreed.

“Baby, I’m already there.” Meg smiled and got on to all fours to crawl over to Sam. Dakota had no interest in seeing whatever Meg was about to do to Sam so she focused more on undoing the knots. Her wrist were bloody now, but that just make the rope easier to manipulate and her hand and wrists slippery. “Common Sam. There’s no need to be nasty.” Meg sat down in his lap then leaned in to whisper in his ear.

Meg started kissing Sam’s neck and Dakota resisted the urge to gag, “Get a room, you two.” She sassed.

“You wanna have fun? Go ahead. I’m a little tied up right now.” Sam said, but Dakota wasn’t. She finally got her right hand free of the ropes, but she kept both hands behind the pole and waited for the opportune moment to strike.

Dakota heard a switchblade loudly open and knew it must be Dean. Meg looked over at him and got off of Sam’s lap to walk over to Dean. Dakota slipped her other hand out of the ropes and brought them in front of her. Sam glanced over and looked shocked that Dakota had gotten free.

Meg crawled back over to Sam, “Now, were you trying to distract me while your brother got free?” She asked teasingly.

“No. No.” Sam said Dakota stood up slowly and watched behind Meg who was sitting in Sam’s lap.

“He was trying to distract you so I could get free.” She said. Meg started to turn her head, but Dakota balled her fist up and slammed it into Meg’s jaw sending her straight to the ground. Sam finished cutting himself out of his ropes.

“Kota! Get the altar!” Dean yelled from where he was still tied up. Dakota ran up to the altar and grabbed the tablecloth hanging over the edge and yanked it hard, sending the objects on top of the table flying. Dakota smiled, she had always wanted to do that. Then she grabbed the table and flipped it over. Dakota watched shadows of Daevas appear on the wall and drag Meg towards the window which they threw her out of. Dakota stood there for a moment catching her breath; when she turned around, Sam was finishing freeing Dean was his restraints.  They slowly walked over to the now broken window and gazed upon Megs crumpled body on the sidewalk several stories down.

……….

Dakota was leaning heavily on Dean as they walked down corridor to their motel room. Sam had insisted on bringing all the weapons back to the room with them in case the Daevas or anything else Meg had been working with showed up. They opened the door to their  room and Sam dropped the bags on to the floor letting out a heavy sigh.

“I’ll grab the first aid kit.” Sam said, Dakota nodded her head, still leaning on Dean.

“Hey! You!” Dean yelled and Dakota lifted her head up from where it was resting on his shoulder. She saw a shadowy figure standing by their window. She lifted herself off of Dean and grabbed the gun she had stashed in the back of her pants and pointed it at the figure. Slowly it turned around.

“Dad?” She asked in shock, immediately lowering her gun. She turned her head over her shoulder and saw Dean and Sam, who had just come back with the first aid kit, in similar states of shock.

“Hey kids.” Said John is his deep, gravelly voice.

They all stood staring at each other for a moment then Dean walked past Dakota and the same time that John started walking towards them. They met in the middle of the room and embraced each other. As soon as they let go, Dakota raced into her father’s arms. He wrapped his arms tight around her and lifted her up so just her toes were touching the ground.

“Hey Baby.” He whispered and Dakota felt herself tear up as he let her go. Dakota looked over to her left and saw Sam was standing there.

“Hi Sam.” John whispered looking Sam over.

“Hey Dad.” Sam replied. John put a hand on Sam’s shoulder briefly. Dakota was counting down the minutes until they started fighting.

“Dad, it was a trap. I’m didn’t know. I’m sorry.” Dean blurted out.

John looked down at the ground then looked back up with a small smile, “It’s alright. I thought it might have been.”

“Were you there?” Dean asked.

“Yeah. I got there just in time to see the girl take the swan dive.” He said, then he looked at all three of them, “She was the bad guy, right?”

“Yes Sir.” Dakota, Sam, and Dean answered in unison.

“Good. Well, it doesn’t surprise me. It’s tried to stop me before.” John said.

“The demon has?” Sam asked.

“It knows I’m close. It knows I’m going to kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to Hell. Actually kill it.”

“Wait, is that even possible?” Dakota asked as she leaned back against Dean. She felt herself losing energy again.

“Yeah, how do you do that?” Dean asked.

John smiled, “I’m working on that.”

“Let us come with you. We’ll help.” Sam said. Dakota would have smiled at how predictable her family was if her dad and brother weren’t about to argue.

“No Sam. Try to understand.” John pleaded and he looked over all three of their faces again before returning to Sam, “This demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don’t want any of you caught in the crossfire. I don’t want any of you hurt.”

“Dad, you don’t have to worry about us.” Sam said and Dakota almost rolled her eyes at the fact Sam was leading this argument on.

“Of course I do. I’m your father.” John said. He looked down before looking back at Sam, “Listen, Sammy. Last time we were together we had one Hell of a fight.”

Dakota and Dean shared a humored look at how small their dad was making the fight sound,

“Yes Sir.” Sam answered.

“It’s good to see you again. It’s been a long time.” John said and Dakota noticed that his voice cracked and he had tears in his eyes.

“Too long.” Sam agreed. Dakota felt like she was intruding on an intimate moment. Sam and John grabbed each other in a long tight hug. Dakota turned to look at Dean, who she was still leaning her weight against.

“Are you crying?” She asked upon seeing Dean’s wet eyes.

“Shut up! This is a beautiful family moment!” He snapped.

As soon as John let go of Sam he was thrown across the room. Dakota looked over at Sam and saw invisible claws rip down his chest. She heard a thud to her right and assumed Dean had been thrown across the room.

“No!” She creamed pleading with the Daevas to stop hurting her family before she felt her feet fly out from under her. She hit the ground hard, causing her already injured head to hit the ground once again. Claws bit into her left calf and raked down her skin. She let out a cry of agony. Dakota heard her dad screaming in pain and turned her head to see that his chest was being ripped to ribbons by Daevas which were holding him pinned down.

“Everyone shut your eyes!” Sam called from somewhere vaguely to Dakota’s left. Closing her eyes was no problem, She barely had the strength to keep them open, “These things are shadow demons, then let’s light them up!” Sam continued. Suddenly there was a hot bright light. Dakota realized Sam must have lite one of their flares they kept in the bag.

Smoke began to fill the room and Dakota felt herself being lifted off of the ground, but she kept her eyes closed. Once they were in the hallway she opened her eyes to see Sam carrying her and Dean helping their Dad down the hall. They made it to the car and Sam set Dakota down on the ground resting against one of the tires.

He opened up the door next to her, “Alright, we gotta hurry. As soon as the flare’s out, they’ll be back.”

“Wait! Wait! Sam, wait!” Dean said, “Dad, you can’t come with us.”

“What!?” Sam and Dakota asked at the same time. Dakota’s eyes flew open at the fact that the brother who had started this search over half a year ago didn’t want their dad to come with them. John was standing on his own now so Dean swooped down and lifted Dakota into his arms, cradling her against his chest. She turned her head away from his chest so he could still be part of the conversation.

“You three are beat to Hell. Kota can’t even stand on that leg right now.” John argued.

“We’ll be fine. I’ve patched us up before.” Dean said.

“Dean! We should stick together. We should go after this demon together.” Sam argued. Suddenly the reason Dean wanted to separate clicked in Dakota’s mind.

“Dean’s right, Sam.” Dakota said.

“Listen, Sam. We almost got Dad killed in there.” Dean said. Dakota turned her face upwards to look at Dean’s bloody and bruised face as he talked. “They’re not gonna stop. They’re going to use us to get to him. Meg was right. Dad’s vulnerable when he’s with us.” Dakota looked over at her dad and saw his shoulders slump in defeat and she realized he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay with them. Sam turned to John and put his hand on their dad’s shoulder and began pleading with John to let them be a part of the fight with the demon. Before she could hear her father’s response, Dakota was being carried away by Dean. He went over to the car door that Sam had opened earlier and laid her down across the back bench.

“Hang in there for a sec Baby Girl. I’m gonna grab something to put on those wounds.” Dean said before he stepped away. Dakota could still hear Sam and John arguing in the background, but her hearing was a little fuzzy now and she knew she would probably pass out soon. Dean returned a moment later with some towels and old t shirts from the trunk and began wrapping her leg. Dakota hissed in pain, but Dean hushed her and began humming some mindless tune to calm her down.

John walked over and put his hand on Dean’s shoulder, “Be careful.” He said simply before walking away. Sam climbed into the passenger’s seat just as their dad walked away. Dean looked down at Dakota with a worried look, but she gave him a small smile. It was fine with her if they started driving, she would black out before they made it out of the alleyway where they were parked. And sure enough within moments of Dean starting the car, Dakota’s world went dark.


	31. Hell House Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Jared Little Love Song" by Terramara

It taken about two weeks before Dakota could finally stand on her leg with leaning on one of her brother and another week before her brothers would finally let her help out on any cases. Finally she was healed and they were on their way to Richardson, Texas to check out a group of kids who had been to a supposedly haunted house around two months ago. With everything that happened for their dad and their injuries, they were finally getting around to this case.

“Hey, Kota.” Dean whispered. Dakota turned her head away from the the window and rose her eyebrows at him. Dean gestured over to Sam who was passed out with his mouth hanging open.Dean held up a plastic spoon, “Should I do it?” he asked. Dakota broke out into a huge grin and nodded.

Dean gently placed the spoon into Sam’s mouth and Dakota leaned over front bench with her phone and took a picture trying to stifle her laughter. She sucked her pinkie finger into her mouth, getting it wet, before leaning over and sticking it into Sam’s ear while Dean cracked up the music making him jump awake. Dakota doubled over with laughter while Dean beat out the drum part of the song on the radio.

“Sorry Sammy. There’s not a whole lotta things to look at in East Texas. Kinda haveta make your own scenery.” Dakota apologized while trying to calm her chuckles down.

“Guys! We aren’t kids any more! We aren’t going to start that prank stuff again. It’s stupid and it always escalates!” Sam complained.

“Oh what’s wrong Sammy? You afraid you’re going to get a little nare in your shampoo again?” Dean teased.

“Ya know Dean, I distinctly remember you not being thrilled with our prank wars when you ended up with blue hair for a week.” Dakota joked.

“And if I recall, you weren’t thrilled when someone changed out all of your songs on your iPod to Backstreet Boyz and N’Sync.” Dean said and Dakota glared at him.

“See! This is the kinda crap I’m talking about! Just remember, you two asked for this.” Sam threatened. “Where are we anyways?”

“The-middle-of-nowhere, Texas.” Dakota said.

“A little outside of Richardson.” Dean answered.

“What are we doing here again?” Dakota asked. Sam leaned forward in his seat and grabbed the papers about the case lying on the dashboard.

“About two months ago this group of kids go poking around in a local haunted house.” Sam started to explain.

“Haunted by the misogynistic ghost guy, right?” Dakota asked.

“Right, anyways, legend goes, it takes girls and strings them up in the rafters. Anyways this group of kids see this dead girl hanging in the cellar. No one’s ID the body because by the time the cops got there the body was gone. Now they think the kids were just yanking their chain. I read a couple of the first hand accounts, they seem pretty sincere.” Sam explained.

“Where did you read the accounts?” Dean asked.

“Well, I knew we would be passing through Texas so…last night, I read went on some…paranormal activity websites.” Sam confessed and Dakota groaned and flopped down in her seat. She thought those websites were a disgrace to an already disgraceful job.

“What’s it called?” Dean asked.

“…Hellhoundslair.com” Sam said.

“Really, Sam!? Have we sunk that low?” Dakota asked.

“Most those websites wouldn’t know a ghost if it bit them in the ass!” Dean agreed.

“Look, we let Dad take off, which was a mistake by the way, and we don’t know where the Hell he is so in the meantime we need to find ourselves something to hunt.” Sam said.

“You say that it sounds like we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves if we were ready to kill something. Like hunting is all we have.” Dakota commented.

“Kota, you literally told us you would blow our brains out if we kept you on bed rest any longer, how is that not needing to hunt something.” Dean said.

“Shut up, jackass.” She said kicking the back of his seat.

……….

They went to the local dinner, hoping to find the kids all hanging out there and got three very different accounts of what happened that night, but they all did have one thing is common: a guy named Craig told them about the house and was with them at the time.

Dakota and her brothers headed over to the record store where Craig worked. They walked into the store and were greeted by loud, rock music and Dakota smiled, this was her kind of store. A guy about Dakota’s height with sandy blond hair came out with a box of records.

“Hey, are you Craig Thurston?” Sam asked.

“I am.” He confirmed.

“Well, we’re reporters with the Dallas Morning News. We wanted to talk to you.” Dakota said sweetly even though she was pretty sure Craig was the root of what was going on here.

“No way! I’m a writer too.” Craig said. “I write for my school’s lit magazine.” He said excitedly.

“Oh, well good for you, Morrison.” Dean said and Dakota stepped on his foot.

“We’re doing an article on local hauntings, and rumor has it you might know about one.” Sam said.

Dakota suddenly got very bored and started flipping through some of the records that were for sale. She absolutely loved vinyl and had always wanted a record player, but it wasn’t realistic with how much she moved around. Dean used to tell her that their mom had a record player and would play classic rock for them, especially her favorite band, The Beatles and she would sing them Hey Jude every night, even if Sam and Dakota were too young to understand lullabies. Dakota smiled and felt herself tear up at the memories of her oldest brother’s stories.

Dakota looked back up and saw Craig put a few records away before saying,

“Well, back in the 30’s, this farmer Mordechai Murdoch, use to live in the house with his six daughters. During the Depression his crops were failing, didn’t have enough money to feed his own children. So, I guess he went off the deep end.” Craig started to explain. Sam followed Craig as he stepped behind the counter. Dakota leaned back against the shelves and looked over at Dean who started flipping through some vinyls. She turned her attention back to Craig and the story.

“You said he went off the deep end. How?” She asked.

“Well, he figured it was best if his girls died quick rather than starve to death…so he attacked them. They screamed, begged him to stop. But he just strung them up, one after another. And when he was finished, he turned around and hung himself. Now they say his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringing up every other girl who goes inside.” Craig said.

“Where did you hear all this?” Dean asked as he walked over to join Sam and Craig at the counter. Dakota reluctantly pushed herself off of the self she was leaning on and went to join them.

“My cousin Dana told me. I don’t know where she heard it. You gotta understand, I didn’t understand any of this. But now…I don’t know what the Hell to think, man.” Craig said with a shrug. “I’ll tell you exactly what I told the police: that girl was real and she was dead. This was not a prank!” He insisted. Dakota thought Craig seemed to be trying a little too hard to convince them that he and his friends hadn’t made the whole thing up.

……….

They made their way to what was locally named the “Hell House”. It was an old, run down farmhouse off of a dirt road. The house itself seemed to barely be standing and all the windows were smashed in, the broken glass lying in the dying, brown plants.

“Talk about curb appeal.” Dean said as they walked up the path. Dakota pulled out her EMF detector while the boys scoped out the rest of the house. The reading coming back were very strange and Dakota wrinkled her nose in confusion. She kept walking around the hole until she nearly ran into a pole. Looking up she saw that it was a telephone pole and sighed.

“Hey guys! The reading are no good. I think the phone poles are throwing off the signal.” Dakota shouted out as she walked back around the side of the house to where Sam and Dean were.

“Alright, let’s go in.” Dean said. He walked up to the door and kicked it down. They walked into the living room and saw that the walls were covered in different symbols. Some looking more recent than others.

“Something’s not right here.” Dakota muttered to herself.

“You’re right, Kota. The upside down cross has been used for centuries, but the Sigil of Sulfur only showed up in San Francisco in the 60’s.” Sam said pointing out a few of the signs.

“And it looks like they were all done with spray paint. Murdoch couldn’t have done this.” Dakota continued.

“This is exactly why you two never get laid.” Dean said before walking further into the house. Dakota crossed her arms and turned to look at Sam only to find him taking pictures of the symbol and therefore unable to properly listen to her rant about their pig of a brother. She rolled her eyes and followed Dean further into the living room..

“Do you recognize this?” Dean asked as Dakota walked up next to him. The symbol he was pointing to was a cross, with the bottom line curving a little and all the lines stopped just before they hit a small circle in the middle of the cross.

“It looks familiar, but I can’t figure out from where…” Dakota muttered.

“I know this one. I’ve seen it…somewhere.” Dean agreed.

“Well I’ve never seen it before.” Sam said. Dakota looked over her shoulder and saw Sam walking over to them. Sam leaned over and reached his arm over Dakota’s head and touched the symbol. “It’s paint. It seems fresh too.”

“Okay, this is by far the most inconsistent case we have ever worked. No ones what the dead girl looked like, the symbols are in paint, not blood, and they are from all different times. What the Hell?” Dakota asked throwing her arms up and turning on her heels and walking into the living room.

“I hate to agree with authority figures of any kind, but the cops might be right about this one.” Dean said somewhere behind her. Suddenly there was a loud crash in the kitchen and Dakota took off towards the noise, assuming that her brothers were following her. She yanked open the kitchen door and immediately closed her eyes as a bright light was shined in her eyes.

“Woah!” A voice yelled out. The light was lowered and Dakota saw two guys standing in the kitchen with a camera and flashlight. One of them had curly red hair and a beard and thick framed glasses who was holding a camera. They other guy was in all black with his dark hair pushed back and was caring some camera supplies.

“Ugh. Cut! It’s just a couple of humans.” The dark haired guys said. The redhead rolled his eyes. “What are you doing here?” He asked.

“Um, what are you doing here?” Dean asked.

“Hello, we belong here. We’re professionals.” The redhead said.

“Professional what?” Dean asked.

“Paranormal investigators” They said at the same time. Dakota almost burst out laughing and she heard Dean and Sam scoff. The redhead handed them business cards.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Dakota muttered.

“Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler. Hellhoundslair.com. You guys run that website?” Sam asked sounding mortified. Ed and Harry nodded.

“Oh, well, we are huge fans.” Dean lied.

“Yeah, well we know who you guys are too.” Ed, the redhead, said. Dakota raised her eyebrows at him, “Amateurs looking for ghosts and cheap thrills.” Dakota bit her plump bottom lip to keep herself from laughing. She looked over at Dean and saw him also stifling a smile and going through some cabinets.

“Yeah, so if you guys don’t mind, we’re trying to conduct a serious scientific investigation.” Harry said.

“Yeah? You guys got anything yet?” Dean asked picking up a pair of night vision goggles Ed and Harry had brought.

Ed sighed, “Har, why don’t you tell them about EMF?”

“EMF?” Sam asked sarcastically.

“What’s that?” Dakota asked playing dumb.

“Electromagnetic field. Spectral entities can cause energy fluctuations that can be read on a device.” Harry said. Dakota looked over at Sam and saw him failing at trying to hide a smile. “Like this bad boy.” Harry said pulling out a huge gimmicky EMF detector.

“Whoa. Whoa. It’s 2.8 mG. It’s hot in here.” Harry said seriously.

“Wow.” Dakota said in shock at stupid these two were.

“So have you to ever actually seen a ghost before?” Dean asked.

“Once.” Ed said turning to face Dean and trying to sound spooky, “We were investigating this old house, and we saw this vase fall right off the table.”

“By itself.” Harry added.

Ed turned back to Harry, “Well..we didn’t actually see it, we heard it. And something like that…it changes you.” Dakota hung her head at this insult to her profession.

“Okay, well I think we get the picture.” Sam said.

“Yeah we should go and let these guys get back to work.” Dean agreed.

They barely made it out of the house before they doubled over in laughter.

……….

Sam was in the library pulling information on Murdock while Dean and Dakota went to the police station to see if they could turn up anything on the mysterious dead girl.

“Hey so did you find anything?” Dakota asked as she walked up to Sam who was heading down the library steps.

“Well, i couldn’t find a Mordechai, but I did find a Martin Murdock who lived in that house in the 30’s.” Sam said reading from his journal where he had written everything down, “He did have children, two of them, both boys. And there’s no record that he ever killed anyone. What did you two get up to?”

“We hit up the police station, no missing persons matching any of the descriptions of our dead girl. Come on dude, we did our digging, this whole thing is a bust.” Dean said.

“For all we know those Hellhound guys made the whole thing up.” Dakota added as they reached the Impala.

“I say we find ourselves a bar and some beers and leave the legend to the locals.” Dean said climbing in the driver’s seat. Dakota looked over the top of the car at Sam and saw that he was trying to play it cool and not smile. Suddenly she realized that he had a prank planned for Dean and quickly climbed into the car to see what would happen, but Sam shook his head stopping her. Dean put the key in the ignition and extremely loud Spanish music shot out of the speakers causing Dean to turn on the windshield wipers and headlights on during his flailing. Dakota busted out laughing along with Sam and they climbed into the car where Sam held up his pointer finger then pointing to himself, officially giving himself a point for his prank. Dakota knew that she would have to pull out all the stops in the war.

“That’s all you got? That’s weak. That is Bush-League.” Dean said angrily as he fixed the settings in the car and put them into drive.

……….

There was fire and smoke and blood everywhere and a menacing voice saying he was coming for her. She felt his breath on the back of her neck and…

“Kota wake up!” Dean yelled and Dakota shot up in bed, panting. “You okay. You’ve been tossing and turning for the last few minutes.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just a nightmare. What’s up?” She asked pulling her knees up and resting her arms on them. She lazily rubbed her right eye with her hand.

“Some girl died at the Murdock house last night. We’re heading out as soon as you are ready. Dakota reluctantly climbed out of bed, grabbed some clothes, and went to the bathroom to get ready to take on the day and completely forget her horrible nightmare.


	32. Hell House Part 2

Twenty minutes later they arrived at Mordechai’s house and found the police already there with crime scene tape set up. Several people were standing around the scene watching the coroner carry a body out.

“What happened?” Dakota asked a man standing around the scene.

“I heard a couple of cops say that poor girl hung herself in that house.” The man said.

“Suicide?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. She was a straight A student with a full ride to UT, too. It just don’t make sense.” The man said before he turned back to watch the police activity.

“What do you guys think?” Sam whispered.

“I have no idea.” Dakota said. 

She looked over at Dean who had taken took a few steps towards the house. “I’m thinking maybe we missed something.”

They agreed to come back later that night, but the cops were still there when they arrived. Hiding behind some of the dead, brown bushes across from the house, Dakota could see flashlights being pointed around and heard dead grass crunching beneath shoes.

“I guess the cops don’t want any more kids screwing around in there.” Sam said from his spot on Dakota’s left.

“Well too bad.” Dakota said.

“Yeah, we still gotta get in there.” Deans said.

A twig snapped behind them and they heard to hushed voices arguing back and forth about not making noise. Dakota sat up a bit more, risking getting seen by the cops to see if she could tell who was disturbing their hiding place.

She groaned when she saw Ed and Harry with their night vision goggles and cameras trying to get close to the house.

“Don’t tell me. It’s our friends from Hellhoundliar.com, right?” Dean asked sarcastically.

“This idiots are going to ruin everything.” Sam said.

Dakota smiled widely, “I have an idea.” She stood up, but stayed slightly bent over to stay out of sight and waited for Ed and Harry to make it into the clearing where the cops would be able to stop them. She cupped her hands of her mouth and said in a deep voice, “Who ya gonna call?”

She watched as the cops turned and saw Ed and Harry and began chasing them.

Sam and Dean stood up, “Okay, we’re clear, but we have to move fast.” Dakota said. She took a step, but something snagged her foot and fell flat on her face. Sam and Dean broke out in laughter and Dakota looked down at her shoes to see one of her brothers had tied the laces of her Converse together with military leveling knots while she wasn’t paying attention.

“You jackasses!” She hissed. She kicked off her shoes and took off towards the house. Once they made it inside, she began fiddling with the laces while the boys looked around.

“Man, I have seen this symbol before. It’s killing me!” Dean said.

“Come on. We don’t have a lot of time.” Sam said. Suddenly he pressed a shotgun into Dakota’s hands, “Forget about the stupid shoes, we have work to do!” He said. So Dakota ended up walking through a haunted house carrying a beat up pair of black Converse and a shotgun while wearing black and white striped socks with holes in the heels.

They went down the stairs to the basement where they heard that the latest victim had been murdered. Inside there were shelves lined with jar filled with unknown substances. Dakota did a quick circle around the room before turning back to  see Dean shining his light through one of the jars.

“Hey, Sam. I dare you to take a swig of this.” Dean said. Dakota raised an eyebrow at him and lowered her shotgun, realizing that the only threat was her oldest brother.

“The Hell would I do that for?” Sam asked.

Dean looked at the liquid then back at Sam, “I double dare ya.”

Dakota shrugged and decided that you only live once, “I’ll do it.” She said.

Dean started to hand her the jar, but Sam’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

“Please don’t do this.” Sam begged.

“But Sam, I have to. He double dared me.” Dakota said teasingly and she lowered her hand. She heard Sam mutter something about her and Dean being children.

A low growling noise came from behind them and Dakota threw her shot gun up and spun on her heels, which was incredibly difficult to do in socks on wood, and was meet with a shadowy figure with red eyes holding up an ax. She fired her shotgun, but nothing happened.

“What the Hell kinda spirit is immune to rock salt!?” She yelled as she cocked the shotgun and fired another shot.

“I don’t know.” Sam and Dean said at the same time.

“Come on! Come on!” Dean said shoving them in the direction of the stairs. The shelves and glasses next to Dakota exploded. She looked over and saw that the ghost was back, swinging his ax.

Sam held up his shotgun to block the ax while Dean and Dakota ran up the stairs. When they made it to the top, Dakota looked over her shoulder and saw Sam right behind them. They sprinted through the livingroom and burst through the front door. As they went outside they saw Ed and Harry standing by the porch with their camera.

“Get that thing out of my face and get out of here!” Dakota warned without slowing down.

……….

Dakota was flipping through her dad’s journal for what must have been the hundredth time in the last six or so months. Sam was on his most beloved laptop and Dean was laying on one of the beds doodling on one of the pads of paper the motel provided.

“Where the Hell have I seen this before?” Dean muttered.

“You’re still stuck on that symbol?” Dakota asked.

“Yes! You said you knew what it was too! How is this not driving you crazy?” He asked and Dakota shrugged.

“This whole damn job is bugging me.” Dakota said.

“The legend said that Mordechai only goes after chicks. I mean, that explains why he went after you two, but why me?” Dean asked. Dakota and Sam turned around and shot him their matching bitchfaces.

“You’re hilarious.” Sam said sarcastically. “The legend also said he hung himself, but I saw slits on his wrist. What’s up with that?” Sam asked.

“I didn’t notice his wrist. But maybe that’s cause he was swinging an ax at me.” Dakota contemplated.

“And that’s another thing! The legend didn’t say anything about an ax. I mean, ghost are pretty strict, right, following the same pattern over and over?” Sam said. “I’m telling you the way these stories go…” Sam trailed off.

Dakota looked up from the journal, “What is it?” She asked.

“Someone added a new post to the Hellhound site.” Dakota stood up and walked around the table to look over Sam’s shoulder. “Listen to this: ‘They say that Mordechai Murdoch was really a satanist who chopped his victims up with an ax before slitting his own risk. Now he’s imprisoned in the house forever.’”  Dakota heard motion behind her, she turned around and saw Dean sit up on the bed with a look on his face like he had just figured out the meaning of life.

“I think I just figured out where this whole thing started.” Dean said, practically jumping off the bed and grabbing his jacket.

Dean took them back to the record store where Craig worked.

“Hey Craig, remember us?” Dean asked as they walked in.

“Guys, I’m really not in the mood to answer any more of your questions, okay?” Craig said.

“Don’t worry, we’re just here to buy an album.” Dean said. He grabbed a record and thrust it into Dakota’s hands. She looked down at it and saw that it was a Blue Oyster Cult record and right in the middle of it was the band’s logo.

“Oh my God. I’m an idiot. How did we not see this?” Dakota asked in a whisper.

“Ya know, I couldn’t figure out where I had seen this symbol, but then I realized, it’s the Blue Oyster Cult symbol. Into B.O.C are ya Craig, or just scaring the Hell out of people” Dean asked as he walked up to where Craig was standing. Craig looked incredible scared to be caught.

“Why don’t you tell us about the house without lying your ass off this time?” Dakota suggested, crossing her arms over her chest.

Craig sighed and hung his head, “My cousin Dana was on break from TCU. I guess we were just bored, looking for something to do, so I showed her this abandoned dump that I found. We thought it’d be funny if we made it look like it was haunted. We painted some symbols on the wall, Some from albums, some from Dana’s theology textbook. We found out that this guy Murdoch use to live there so we…we made up a story to go along with this. So we told people, who told people and then these two guys put it on their stupid website.” Dakota rolled her eyes at at the mention of the Ed and Harry, “Everything just took on a life of it’s own. I thought it was funny at first…but now that girl is dead.” Craig looked like he was about to cry, “We made the whole thing up. I swear.”

……….

Dakota walked into the motel room slowly and looked around. She heard the shower running and knew Sam must be in there, Dean was out in the parking lot flirting with some leggy brunette who had complimented the Impala. Dakota decided it was time for some revenge for the shoelace incident. Since she wasn’t sure who pulled the prank, she decided that she would simply have to get both of them back. She pulled out some itching powder that she had bought earlier and grinned evilly. She walked over to the dresser and opened up the two drawers containing the boy’s clothes and sprinkled the itching powder in. Dean had said earlier that he was going to grab a shower so Dakota knew he would change into all new clothes and Sam was the king of forgetting to bring his clothes into the bathroom with him when he showered and she was willing to bet he had forgotten to today.

“Hey where have you been?” Sam asked, walking out with a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Dean and I were out. He has it with him in the parking lot.” Dakota said.

Sam grabbed some clothes from the drawer and his duffel and Dakota bit her lip to hide a smile. He walked back into the bathroom saying, “So I think I might have a theory about what’s going on. What if Mordechai is a Tulpa?” Sam asked.

“A Tulpa?” Dakota asked.

“Yeah a Tibetan thought form.” Sam said as he came out of the bathroom. At the same time Dean walked into the motel room.

“I know what a Tulpa is.” Dakota said. “Ya know what, Dean why don’t you grab a shower and let’s go get something to eat.” She suggested.

By the time they made it to the dinner where they had originally interviewed the kids, Sam and Dean were squirming as they walked.

They ordered their food and sat down, but Dakota noticed that the boys sat down very carefully.

“Okay, so, Tulpa? Why are we thinking it’s Tulpa’s?”

“Okay, so, there was this incident in Tibet in 1915. A group of monks visualize a golem in their heads. They meditated on it so hard that they made the thing appear out of thin air.” Sam explained.

“So?” Dakota and Dean asked.

“That was 20 monks. Imagine what 10,000 web servers could do.” Sam said. “So, Craig starts the story about Mordechai, it spreads, and now there are countless people all believe in the bastard.” Dakota leaned forward onto her elbows.

“So, you’re telling me that because people believe in Mordechai, he’s real?” Dean asked.

“People believe in Santa Clause, how come I’m not getting hooked up every Christmas?” Dakota asked. She watched Dean squirm in his seat, frowning, and took a sip of her coffee to hid the grin spreading on her face.

“Because you’re a bad person, and because of this…” Sam said pulling out his laptop and turning it so the screen was facing Dakota and Dean, “That’s a Tibetan spirit sigil on the walk of the house. Craig said they were painting symbols from a theology textbook. I bet they painted this on the wall not even knowing what it was. That sigil has been used for centuries, concentrating meditative thoughts like a magnifying glass.” The waitress stopped by their table and passed out their food and they all tucked in.

“So, people are on the Hellhounds website, staring at the symbol, thinking about Mordechai. It might be enough to bring a Tulpa to life.” Dakota agreed.

“That would explain why it keeps changing.” Dean said.

Dakota looked over at Sam and saw him looking miserable, “Yeah, people think different things, so Mordechai changes himself like a game of telephone.” Sam said.

“And that’s why the rock salt didn’t work.” Dakota said.

“Yeah, he’s not a typical spirit per se.” Dean agreed. “Can’t we just get rid of the symbol on the wall and the website?”

“It’s not that simple, once a Tulpa has been created they take on a life of their own.” Sam explained.

“Great. How the Hell do you kill an idea?” Dakota asked.

“We’ll the Hellhound website isn’t helping. The hits have quadrupled since yesterday.” Sam said.

“Okay, come on. I have an idea. We need to go make some copies.” Dean said standing up.

“Dude, I think I’m allergic to our soap.” Sam said put his laptop in his bag.

“Me too.” Sam said and finally Dakota couldn’t hold in the laughter any more.

“You did this?” Sam asked in shock.

“You’re a friggin bitch.” Dean said and Dakota turned and quickly walked out to the car.

……….

The boys insisted on stopping at the motel to change their clothes before going to the nearest copy store. Dean slipped inside to make some copies then they headed to where they found out the Hellhound boys had parked their trailer.

They walked up and Dakota banged on the door, “Come on out guys, we know you’re in there.”

Ed and Harry opened the door and poked their heads out, “Oh look at that, action figures in their original packaging, what a shocker.” Dean said.

“Guys, we need to talk.” Sam said.

“We’re a little busy right now.” Ed said and he and Harry stepped out of the trailer.

“Well, we’ll make this quick.” Dakota said and she saw Ed give her a once over and she crossed her arms and glared at him, but he didn’t seem to get the message.

“We need you to shut down the website.” Dean said.

“You know, these guys get us busted last night. We spend the night in a hold cell.” Ed said.

“I had to pee in front of people, and I get stage fright.” Ed said and Dakota rolled her eyes.

“Why should we trust you guys?” Ed asked finally stopping his creepy staring.

“Look, we all know what we saw last night at the house, what’s in that house.” Sam said.

“And now, thanks to your website, thousands of people are reading about Mordechai.” Dakota said.

“Which means people are gonna keep showing up and running into him. Someone’s going to get hurt.” Dean explained.

“Nope. We have an obligation to our fans to tell the truth.” Harry said.

“And I have an obligation to kick both your asses.” Dean said.

“I’ll help.” Dakota offered.

“Hey, Dean, Kota. Forget it, alright? These guys…you could probably bitch slap them both. I could probably tell them that thing about Mordechai.” Sam said, messing with the idiots with the camera.

“Ya know what, you’re right. They’re not going to help us.” Dean said playing along.

“Let’s just go to a bar or something.” Dakota suggested and she turned to walk away, confident that her brothers were right behind her also that Ed and Harry would follow her swinging hips and the hint about the ghost.

Sure enough Dakota heard them run up behind them, “Wait a minute!” Harry said.

“Yeah, what were you guys saying about Mordechai?” Ed asked.

“Tell them Sam.” Dakota said looking over to her brother, but not stopping their walking.

“But if they agree to shut their website down…I don’t know, they probably still won’t listen to us.” Sam said.

“We’ll do it!” Ed and Harry promised.

They reached the Impala and finally turned around to face the Ed and Harry.

“It’s a secret, Sam.” Dean said.

Sam gave an over exaggerated sigh and turned to face them, “Look, this is really big deal and it wasn’t easy to dig up, so only if we have your word that you’ll shut down the website.”

When Ed and Harry nodded, Dean pulled out a fake death certificate they had made at the copy store.

“This is a death certificate from the ‘30s we got at the library. It says that the actual cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Dakota said.

“So he didn’t hang or slice himself? He shot himself.” Harry said.

“Yep, with a .45 pistol. To this day, they say he’s terrified of them.” Sam said

“They say if you shot him with a .45 loaded with these special wrought-iron rounds, you’d kill the son of a bitch.” Ed and Harry got huge grins on their faces and took off towards their trailer.

……….

They were sitting in a dinner waiting for Ed and Harry to post the story they had told them onto the Hellhoudslair website. On the wall was a stupid clock that had a string so when you pulled it a really annoying laugh sounded. Dean reached up and pulled the string.

“If you do that one more time, I’m going to kill you.” Sam said looking up from his laptop and staring at Dean with a very serious face. Dakota watched as Dean reached for the string and as horrible as the laugh was, Dakota decided not to stop him, just so she could see Sam angry.

“Come on man. You need a little more laughter in your life. You’re too tense.” Dean said and Sam grabbed his beer bottle so tightly, Dakota was surprised it didn’t shatter.

“Have they posted it yet?” She asked.

Dakota suddenly felt a painful stabbing sensation in her abdomen and immediately recognized what it was. As Sam turned the laptop around to face Dean, she grabbed her black beauty bag out of her backpack and went into the diner bathroom and opened it. Her jaw dropped when she saw that it was empty. Sam or Dean must have emptied it in an act of revenge. Dakota was beyond pissed, not only did they get rid of all of her make up, the only thing that made her feel a little bit feminine in a world full of men, but they threw out her hair ties and worst of all, her tampons. She was going to kill them, this was beyond some stupid prank, this was torture straight from Hell. Dakota stocked back into the diner and found Sam bent over with laughter and Dean with his hand glued to his beer bottle.

“Alright, assholes, which one of you evil bastards from Hell did it?” She said dangerously.

“Oh, what’s wrong sweetheart? Something missing?” Dean smirked, which didn’t really work with the bottle still stuck to his hand. Dakota felt her blood boil and her fist shake. She glared at Dean.

“Sleep with one eye open tonight.” She threatened before sliding into the booth next to Sam, who looked terrified.

They came up with a plan of what to do tonight at the house. As they were leaving Sam took the crazy clock off the wall and they quickly left the diner. After a quick stop at the convenience store for Dakota and Dean, they headed to Mordechai’s house to step up. Dakota took the clock into the woods and pulled the string, tying it around a branch so it would keep making noise, then went back to where the her brothers were hiding and watching the police. Once they saw the police follow the noise they snuck over to the house as quietly as possible.

Once they were in they pulled out their handguns and flashlights and started to search the livingroom.

“Man, I barely have any skin left on my palm.” Dean complained.

“Don’t start with me you dick.” Dakota warned.

“I’m not touching that line with a 1,000 foot pole.” Sam said.

They went to the door leading to the basement “So, do you think old Mordechai is home?” Dakota asked.

“I don’t know.” Sam said.

“Me neither.” Said a voice behind them. Dakota spun around and pointed her gun at the intruder who was shining a blinding light in her eyes.

“Wow, wow, don’t shot!” Said the voice and the flashlight the man was holding turned upward. And there stood Ed and Harry with their usual filming getups.

“What the Hell? Are you guys trying to get yourselves killed?” Sam yelled.

“We’re just trying to get a book and movie deal.” Ed said.

A scraping sound came from the behind the basement door. Dakota turned and raised her gun. She felt Ed and Harry come up behind her.

“You guys mind opening that door for us?” Ed asked weakly.

“Why don’t you?” Dakota asked, knowing he would be too scared to try.

Mordechai burst through the door carrying his ax and Dakota, Sam and Dean opened fire. Mordechai didn’t fade away immediately and Dakota grew worried, but eventually the spirit disappeared and she had a feeling this wasn’t over.

“Where is he? Did you get him?” Ed and Harry asked.

Dakota waited with them while Sam and Dean searched the surrounding rooms. Mordechai reappeared and swung his ax at her, but she shot him in the chest; again he disappeared into smoke.

Dean walked back into the room, “Didn’t you post that B.S. story we gave you?”

“Of course we did. But our server crashed.” Harry explained.

“So it didn’t take?” Sam asked.

“So these guns are useless.” Dakota summed up.

“Great. Sam, Kota, any ideas?” Dean asked.

Dakota turned to look at her twin who shrugged. She looked back to Dean and shook her head.

“Okay, we’re getting out of here.” Ed said and he began shoving Harry towards the door. A moment later Dakota heard a scream and took off towards it. Mordechai had Ed and Harry cornered by the front door which, she figured he must be keeping locked.

“Hey! Come and get it you ugly son of a bitch.” She taunted.

Mordechai swung his ax at her, but she ducked and he got it stuck in the wall. She pulled out her handgun and shot him in the leg, knowing it wouldn’t do anything, but hoping to buy them some time. Apparently ghost don’t appreciate being shot because Mordechai grabbed Dakota by her hair and threw her against the wall. He placed the wooden part of the ax against her neck and shoved her up the wall so she was dangling in mid air.

“Run!” She yelled to Ed and Harry who were just standing there watching. They ran out the door. “Sam! Dean!” She cried out.

The boys rounded the corner and Dean pulled out a torch and fired it at Mordechai who dropped Dakota. She took a deep breath in as Sam rushed over and wrapped an arm around her waist to help her up. They ran towards the side door of the house.

“If Mordechai can’t leave the house and we can’t kill him, we improvise.” Dean said. He stopped and pulled his lighter out of his pocket and threw it onto the ground. The boys must have thrown down some gasoline while Dakota was being attacked because the fire quickly caught and began to spread. They continued to the side door of the house and Sam broke the door down so they could escape. They got a safe distance away and watched as the house slowly burned to the ground.

“That’s your solution? Burn the whole damn place to the ground?” Sam asked.

“No one will go in anymore.” Dean justified. “Look, Mordechai can’t haunt a house if there’s no house to haunt. It’s fast and dirty, but it works.”

“What if the legend changes and Mordechai is allowed to leave the house?” Dakota asked rubbing her sore neck.

“Well, then we’ll just have to come back.” Dean said.

“It kinda makes you wonder, out of all the things we’ve hunted, how many of them exist just because people believed in them.” Sam wondered.

“Well that’s a terrifying concept.” Dakota commented.

……….

As the Impala was rolling out of town Dakota, Sam, and Dean noticed Ed and Harry’s trailer parked in a convenience store parking lot.

“Hey guys.” Sam said as they walked by with some plastic bags.

Without looking at them Harry said, “Should we tell them Ed?”

“Might as well, they’re just going to read it in the trades.” Ed said.

“We got a call from a very important Hollywood producer. He heard all about our Hellhounds site and wants to option the motion picture rights.” Harry explained as they walked over to a car that was pulling the trailer and which had a roof piled high with things.

“Maybe even have us write it and create the RPG.” Ed said.

“The what?” Dean asked.

“The role-playing game.” Harry explained.

“It’s a little lingo for you. Anyhoo, excuse us. We’re out to LA-LA Land.” Ed said.

“Well congratulation guys.” Sam said.

“Yeah, that’s awesome. Best of luck to you.” Dean said

“Oh, luck’s got nothing to do with it. It’s all about talent, you know. Sheer, unabashed talent.” Ed said. Then he grabbed a paper out of his pocket and handed it to Dakota. “Here. In case you ever want to hook up with a big time guy in Hollywood.” Ed said then he and Harry climbed into the car and drove away.

“Did he actually just try to hit on me?” Dakota asked in shock.

“Wow.” Dean said laughing as they started walking to where they parked the car.

“I have a confession to make, I was the one who called them and told them I was a producer.” Sam said. Dakota giggled and Dean chuckled.

“Well, I’m the one who put a dead fish in their backseat.” Dean confessed still laughing.

“Truce?” Sam asked.

“Yeah truce…at least for the next 100 miles.” Dean said climbing into the driver’s seat.

“Ya know, if you want to save yourself, you are more than welcome to sit in the back.” Dakota offered.

Sam smiled, “Ask me again in 100 miles.”


	33. Something Wicked Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "So Electric" by Boulevard

Dakota was in the passenger seat of the Impala flipping through papers about their latest case with Sam, who was in the back, while Dean drove.

“Are you sure we didn’t miss something?” Dakota asked.

“I ran LexiusNexius local news report, newspapers, and nothing. Not a single red flag. Dean, are you sure you got the coordinates right?” Sam asked

“Yea. I double checked. It’s Fitchburg, Wisconsin.” Dean confirmed. “Dad wouldn’t have sent us coordinates if it wasn’t important, Sammy.”

“We’re not doubting that it’s not important, we are just saying that if Dad is sending us hunting for something, I don’t know what.” Sam said.

“Maybe Dad is meeting us there.” Dean suggested.

Dakota snorted, “Yeah, cause he’s been so easy to find up to this point.”

She looked over at Dean and saw that he was glaring at her, “You’re a real smartass, you know that.”

“Thank you. I strive to be so.” Dakota sassed.

Dean looked back at the road, “Don’t worry, I’m sure there is something in Fitchburg worth killing.”

“What makes you so sure?” Sam asked.

“Because, I’m the oldest which means I’m always right.” Dean said.

“No it doesn’t!” Dakota and Sam argued.

“It totally does.” Dean said.

……….

Once they rolled into Fitchburg they found parking and Dakota and Sam stayed with the car while Dean ran across the street to grab them some coffees. Dakota was looking up and down the street when she noticed a nearly empty playground. Granted, she didn’t spend a lot of time on play structures growing up, but she remembered that they were always crowded.

“Hey Sam. Check out that playground.” Dakota said pointing to it.

“What? No! That’s creepy. Why are you staring at a playground?” Sam asked.

Dakota threw him a bitchface, “Just look!”

Sam turned and looked just as Dean showed up with some coffees, “Well, the waitress at the diner seems to think the local Freemasons are up to something, but other than that I got nothing.”

“Do you have the time?” Sam asked still staring at the playground.

“10 after 4. Why?” Dean asked.

“Look at the playground across the street and tell me what’s wrong with that picture.” Dakota said.

“You mean other than the fact that Sam is staring at it way too intensely?” Dean joked.

Dakota punched him in the arm, “For the love of God just look at the damn thing!!” She watched as Dean looked over and a saw a look of realization come over his face.

“School’s out by now. Where is everybody?” He asked.

“I’ll go talk to her.” Sam offered.

“What? No! That’s a terrible idea!” Dakota exclaimed.

“Why?” Dean asked.

“Because some strange grown ass man coming over and talking to a mom and her daughter at a playground is going to raise all kinds of flags! Just let me handle this.” Dakota said. She walked across the street to the playground zipping her hoodie up against the cold wind as she did. She saw a mom sitting on one of the park benches and went to sit at the next bench over.

“Sure is quiet out here. I heard there were a lot of kids in this neighborhood, but this place seems empty.” Dakota said.

“Yeah, it’s a shame. All these kids getting sick.” The woman said.

“Oh! I just moved here this weekend. I haven’t heard anything about kids getting sick. How many? Are they alright?” Dakota asked, trying to sound like a concerned citizen.

“Just five or six, but it’s pretty serious.” The women answered. “A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious. They think it’s catching.”

“That’s so sad. I hope everything works out and those kids are okay. It was lovely meeting you.” Dakota said standing up to leave.

“You too. Welcome to the neighborhood.” She heard the women call out. Dakota ran across the street to her brothers.

“We need to check the local hospitals.”

……….

After changing into their Fed suits they made their way to the hospital pretending to be CDC doctors.

“Dude, I’m not using this ID!” Sam complained as Dean handed him his fake badge.

“Why not?” Dean asked.

“Because it says ‘bikini inspector’ on it!” Sam said.

“Oh my God Dean! Why are you such a disgusting pig!” Dakota whined.

Dean laughed, “Look Sam, she’s not going to ask to see ID. It’s all about confidence. Go gettem, tiger.” Dean said shoving Sam towards the reception desk while Dakota and Dean hung back. Luckily for Sam, the woman didn’t notice and pointed them in the direction of the pediatrics ward. They silently climbed the stairs, Dakota walking behind Dean and Sam leading them. Dakota was so lost in thought, trying to figure out what they were hunting, that she didn’t pay attention when Dean stopped walking.

“Ow!” She exclaimed as she slammed into Dean’s solid back, but Dean didn’t notice, he just stared into one of the patient’s rooms.

“Dean!’ Sam said loudly and Dean snapped back to attention and continued walking.

A middle aged man in a lab coat came walking up to them, “Are you the doctors from the CDC?”

“Yes we are.” Sam said.

“Great, my name is Dr. Hydaker. Please follow me.” He said and he led them down the hallway, “I’m so glad you are here. I was just about to call the CDC myself. How did you find out anyway?”

“Oh some GP, I forget his name, called down to Atlanta. Must have just beat you to the punch.” Dakota said.

The doctor turned at looked at her, “Forgive me for asking, but aren’t you a little young to be a CDC doctor?” He asked.

Dakota gave him a fake giggle and a smile, “I get that all the time, but it’s very sweet of you to say.”

“So, you say you have six cases so far?” Sam said.

“Yeah, in five weeks. At first we thought it was garden variety bacterial pneumonia, nothing newsworthy.” He said as they reached a large room holding all the sick children in it. Dakota looked at them all through the glass wall and saw how sick they all looked and how they were all sleeping and felt her heart clench. “The kids aren’t responding to antibiotics and their white cell counts keep going down. Their immune systems aren’t doing their job. It’s like their bodies are just wearing out.”

A nurse came over to get a signature from the doctor, “Have you ever seen anything like this?” Dakota asked, turning away from the window.

“Never this severe.” Dr. Hydaker said.

“The way it spreads is a new one for me?” Dakota gave the nurse a confused look and raised for eyebrow, “It works it’s way through families. Only the children, one sibling after another.”

“May we interview some of the kids?” Dean asked.

“None of them are conscious.” The nurse explained.

“Well, can we talk to some of the parents?” Dakota asked.

The doctor shrugged, “If you think it will help.”

“Yeah, who was your most recent admission?” Dean asked. The doctor pointed to a man filling out some paperwork in a chair a little ways down the hall. They slowly approached the man.

“I should be getting back to my girls.” The man said after they introduced themselves.

“I understand that and we will get you back to them as soon as we can.” Dakota assured him.

“Now, you said Mary was the oldest?” Sam asked.

“Yes, she’s thirteen, she came down with it first. Then Bethany the next night.” The man said.

“Alright, just a few more questions. How do you think they caught pneumonia?” Dean asked.

“With think it was an open window.” The man said.

“Both times?” Sam asked.

“The first time, I don’t remember, maybe. But I know I closed the window the second time when I put Bethany to bed.” He said.

“Do you think she opened it?” Dakota asked.

“It’s a second story window with no ledge, no one else could have.” He explained.

“Thank you so much for your time.” Dakota said and she walked away from the man. “Ya know this might not be anything supernatural at all, it might really be pneumonia.” She said once they were out of earshot.

“Yeah, or something opened that window.” Dean argued. “I mean, Dad sent us her for a reason. Maybe we’re barking up the right tree.”

“Well, I know one thing. That guy we just talked to, I bet he’s not going to go home for a while.” Sam said.

……….

Dakota was walking around Mary’s room with her EMF reader while Sam and Dean looked with blacklights.

“Well, I don’t know about you boys, but I’ve got nothing.” Dakota said.

“I do.” Sam said. Dakota turned around and saw him standing at an open window, “Dean, you were right. It’s not pneumonia.”

Dakota and Dean walked over and Sam pointed at the windowsill. There was a strange hand print with a tiny palm and very long fingers there.

“The wood there is rotted.” Sam said..

“What the Hell leaves a handprint like that?” Dakota asked.

Dean got a far away look in his eyes, “I know why Dad sent us here. He’s faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job.”

……….

“So, what the Hell is a striga?” Sam asked as they climbed out of the car in a motel parking lot.

“Yeah, I’ve never even heard of that.” Dakota said.

“It’s kinda like a witch, I think. I don’t really know much about it.” Dean confessed.

“How come it’s not in Dad’s journal?” Dakota asked as she walked to the trunk to get her bag.

Dean popped the trunk open, “Dad hunted on before in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin. About 16, 17 years ago. You two were there. You don’t remember?”

“No.” Sam said.

“We’re five. I remember Dad keeping an extra close eye on me for a few days and a lot of yelling while we were in Fort Douglas, but that’s about it. I don’t remember what he was hunting.” Dakota said.

“Anyways, I guess he caught wind that this thing is in Fitchburg now and kicked us the coordinates.” Dean said.

“So this…striga…you think it was the same one Dad hunted before?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, maybe.” Dean said grabbing the last of their bags and walking towards the motel’s front door.

“But if Dad went after it why is it still breathing air?” Dakota asked.

“Because it got away.” Dean said.

“Got away?” Sam asked sounding disbelieved.

“Yeah, Sammy, it happens.” Dean said.

“Yeah, but not very often. And not to Dad.” Dakota argued.

“I don’t know what to tell you guys. Maybe Dad didn’t have his Wheaties that morning.” Dean said throwing his free hand up.

“What else do you remember?” Sam asked.

“Nothing! I was a kid, all right?” Dean said walking in the door and leaving Sam and Dakota out by the car.

“He totally remembers something.” Dakota said.

“Oh yeah. No doubt.” Sam agreed.

It took Dean longer than it normally would to get there room, but finally he away from the front desk. They walked down to their motel room and Dakota immediately flopped down on the nearest bed.

“Looks like you’re crashing with me tonight. No coach.” Sam pointed out and Dakota groaned. Another night of Sam taking up the entire bed and stealing the covers. She heard the boys unpacking a flipped over onto her back. Sam already had his laptop set up on the kitchen table and was researching.

“You were right.” Sam said after half an hour, “It wasn’t easy to find, but a striga is a kind of witch. They’re Albanian, but legends about them date back to ancient Rome. They feed out of ‘spritius vitae.’” Sam said.

“Spirit what?” Dean asked.

“It’s Latin. I think it translates to ‘spirit of life’.” Dakota said.

“Technically it’s ‘breath of life’.” Sam corrected.

Dakota threw a pillow at his head, which he dodged, “Shut up! I just translated a dead language that I studied twice in high school. I should get an award for being able to remember that much.” She complained.

“Anyways it’s like your life force or essence.” Sam explained.

“Didn’t the doctor say the kids life force was wearing out?” Dean asked.

“It’s a thought. The she takes your vitality, your immunity goes to Hell, pneumonia takes hold,” Dakota pieced together as she walked over to join Sam at the table.

“Striga’s can feed off of anyone, but they prefer…” Sam said.

“Children.” Dean jumped in and finished. Dakota leaned forward onto her arms and looked over at Dean who was leaning on their kitchen counter.

“Probably because they have a stronger life force.” Dakota guessed.

“Yeah, and get this, striga’s a invulnerable to all weapons devised by God and man.” Sam said.

“Fantastic.” Dakota muttered sarcastically, slumping back in her chair.

“No. That’s not right. She’s vulnerable when she feeds. If you catch her while she eating, you can blast her with concentrated rod irons…either buck shots or rounds I think.” Dean said.

“How do you know that?” Sam asked.

“Dad told me. I remember.” Dean said.

Dakota and Dean shared a knowing look, “Anything else Dad might have mentioned?” Dakota asked.

“No, that’s it.” Dean said.

“Okay, so assuming we can kill it while it eats we have to catch it first which ain’t going to be a cake walk. Striga’s take on a human form when their hunting.” Sam said.

“What do they disguise themselves as?” Dakota asked as she walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

“Well, they can be anything, but historically a feeble old woman.” Sam said.

“Hang on.” Dean said and he started riffling through some papers they had got at the hospital and grabbed for this case. He pulled out a map and laid it out on the table. “Check this out. I marked down all the addresses of the victims.” He pointed to some a few X the had been drawn on the map, “These are the houses that have been hit so far and in the middle of them is the hospital. When we were there I saw a patient who was an old woman.”

“An old woman in a hospital. Wow. That’s big.” Dakota sassed.

Sam gave a breathy laugh, “Someone better call the Coast Guard.”

“Well listen smartasses, she had an inverted cross hanging on her wall.” Dean said and all laughing stopped.

“Alright you win. Let’s check out the old lady." Dakota said.


	34. Something Wicked Part 2

Dakota walked slowly into the entrance of the hospital and looked back over at her shoulder at her brothers who gave her a thumbs up. She sighed and turned back to look at the front desk. She had done a lot of things she wasn’t proud of in her life. She took a deep breath then let out a blood-curdling scream and dropped to the floor and just before she closed her eyes she saw all the nurses and doctors rush towards her and her brothers slip into the hallway to go find the striga.

“Ma’am? Are you okay?” Dakota heard someone ask. Dakota thought it was ridiculous that someone would ask a person faking being unconscious is they were okay. She felt someone sitting her up and she slowly opened her eyes.

“What happened?” She asked groggily. She saw Dean and Sam walk quickly out the front doors of the hospital while someone explained what had “happened” to her.

“Ya know what? I feel fine now.” Dakota said, jumping up and running out the door. She ran out to the Impala which Dean had pulled up to the front.

“Did you find her?” She asked.

“Why don’t you ask Dean?” Sam asked smirking. Dakota raised an eyebrow and looked saw herat Dean.

“False alarm.” He muttered and Sam started laughing.

They didn’t make it back to the motel until early the next morning and Dakota noticed that the “no vacancy” sign was on even though the parking lot was empty. Sam was telling her the story of what happened at the hospital. They walked up to the door and waited for Dean to unlock it. They turned around and looked at Dean who was staring at a young boy sitting on a bench outside of the small building that held the front desk.

“Hang on a sec.” Dean said and he started walking over to the boy. Dakota looked over at Sam and shrugged before following Dean.

“Hey what’s wrong?” Dean asked crouching down next to the boy. Dakota noticed that the boy had tears in his eyes and sat down next to him on the bench.

The boy looked over at Dean and said in a cracking voice, “My brother’s sick.”

“The little guy?” Dean asked.

The boy nodded, “Pneumonia. He’s in the hospital.” Dakota looked past the boy and Dean to Sam who looked as worried as her. “It’s my fault.” The boy lamented.

“No, come on. How?” Dean asked.

The boy sniffled, “I should have made sure the window was latched. He wouldn’t have gotten sick if the window was latched.”

“Listen to me, this is not your fault, okay.” Dean said.

“It’s my job to take care of him!” The boy cried out. Dakota saw Dean tense up. She put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. A woman walked out of the front desk carrying a blanket, pillow, and stuffed animal and started loading up one of the cars in the parking lot.

“Michael, turn on the “no vacancy” sign while I’m gone. I’ve got Denise covering room service don’t don’t worry about the rooms.” She listed.

Michael stood up and walked over to the car, “I’m going with you.”

“Not no Michael.” She snapped. Dakota realised this must have been the boy’s mother and stood up from the bench. She could feel how distressed the mom and son were and felt her eyes water up with the force of sadness hitting her.

“But I need to see Asher!” Michael said.

“Hey Michael. I know how you feel, I’m a big brother too. But you gotta go easy on your mom right now, okay?” Dean said. Michael’s mother accidently dropped her purse and Sam sprang forward to help her.

“You know, you’re really in no condition to drive right now, let us drive you. We insist.” Dakota said.

“Yea, it’s really no trouble.” Dean said. The woman handed the keys over to Dakota, but Dean snatched them before she could reach them. While Michael and his mother said goodbye for the night Dean grabbed Dakota and dragged her over to Sam, “We are gonna kill this thing. I want it dead. You hear me?”

Dean got into the car and drove away and Michael walked back into the hotel. Dakota looked over at Sam, “Now what?”

“Library?” Sam suggested.

“Naturally that would be your suggestion.” Dakota rolled her eyes, “If you are going to make me research then I’m driving.”

……….

After an hour of looking for any dark history of the town or anything on strigas Dakota had found nothing. Sam had his face buried in a book so she assumed he was doing better than her. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes when her pocket started buzzing and playing the opening notes to “Learn to Fly”.

She didn’t even bother checking the caller ID, “Hey. How’s the kid?” She asked. She saw Sam look up from the book he was reading, but she waved him off.

“He’s not good. Where you at?” Dean asked on the other end of the line.

“We’re at the library. Sam’s looking for anything on strigas and I’m trying to dig up some dirt on the town.” Dakota explained.

“Whatta you got?” Dean asked.

“Nothing good. I started with looking at Fort Douglas around the time you said Dad was there and it looks like the same thing was happening then. It looks like every 15 or 20 years it hits a new town. And it looks like it’s just starting here. All the other places, this goes on for months before the striga finally moves on. The kids just fall into coma and die.”

“How far back does this go?” Dean asked.

Dakota pulled the phone away from her ear and looked over at Sam, “How far back does this thing go?” She whispered.

Sam smirked and leaned across the table to grab the phone from her, “Hey Dean, the earliest I could find is a town called Black River Falls back in the 1890s….Whoa!” Sam exclaimed.

“What?” Dakota asked jumping out of her chair and rushing over to his side of the library table.

“Oh my God.” Dakota whispered in shock when she saw what SAm was pointing out.

“Dean, we’re looking at a photo right now of a bunch of doctors standing around a kids bed. One of them is Hydaker.” Dakota said.

“And?” Dean asked.

“This photo was taken in 1893.” Sam said.

“Are you sure?” Dean asked.

“No. I’m not sure. I just acted shocked over a photo taken from last year.” Dakota said sarcastically.

“Shut up!” Dean snapped.

Dakota and Sam headed back to the motel and waited for Dean to come back from the hospital. Once he got back they all sat around the kitchen table to discuss what they had discovered.

“We should have seen this before. Doctor’s a perfect disguise. You’re trusted, you have control over the whole thing.” Sam said.

“That son of a bitch.” Dean said.

“I’m honestly surprised that you didn’t draw on him right then and there.” Dakota said.

Dean stood up and took his jacket off and threw it on the bed, “Well first of all, I’m not going to open fire in a pediatrics ward. And second, it wouldn’t do any good, the bastard is bulletproof unless he’s chowing down on something. And third, I wasn’t packing, which is probably a really good thing, ‘cause I probably would have just burned a clip in him off of principle alone.”

“You’re getting wise in your old age Dean.” Sam said and Dakota giggled.

“You’re damn right. And now we know how we’re going to kill it.” Dean said.

“…we do?” Dakota asked.

“The striga-it works through siblings, right? So last night it went after Asher.” Dean said

“So tonight it will go after Michael.” Sam realised.

“We have to get him out of there!” Dakota said standing up.

“No! No, that would blow the whole deal!” Dean said.

“What!” Dakota and Sam exclaimed.

“You want to use the kid as bait?” Sam asked.

“No! Forget it! That’s out of the question.” Dakota yelled.

“Sam, Dakota, it’s the only way-if this thing disappears it could be years before we get another chance.” Dean argued.

“Michael is a kid and I’m not going to dangle him in front of that thing like a worm on  hook.” Sam said.

“Dad did not send me here to walk away.” Dean said.

“Send you here?” Dakota asked.

“He didn’t send you here. He sent us here.” Sam said.

“This isn’t about you two!” Dean snapped. “I’m the one who screwed up! It’s my fault. There’s no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me.”

“What are you saying, Dean? How is it your fault?” Dakota said.

Dean stared off into the distance for a moment and Sam looked over at Dakota and sighed, “Dean, you’ve been hiding something from the get-go.” Sam said.

“Since when does Dad bail on a hunt? Since when does he let something get away?” Dakota asked.

“Now, talk to use, man. Tell us what’s going on.” Sam asked. Dean slumped down on one of the beds and stared at the ground.

“We were in Fort Douglas and it was the third night in this crappy motel room, and I was climbing the walls, i just needed to get some air. I was only out for a few minutes, but when I came back the striga was there, trying to feed on Dakota so I grabbed the shotgun, but I just froze. Dad showed up out of nowhere and scared the thing and started shooting at it, but it got away. After that Dad just grabbed us and booked, dropped us off at Pastor Jim’s about three hours away. By the time he got back to Fort Douglas, the striga was gone, it just vanished and it hasn’t resurfaced until now. Dad never spoke about it again and I never asked. But he…he looked at me different, which was worse. Not that I blame him, he gave me an order, I didn’t listen and it almost got you killed.” Dean said to Dakota who had moved to sit next to him on the bed with Sam sitting on his other side.

“You were just a kid.” Dakota whispered. She was very surprised by Dean’s confession, she had absolutely no memory of almost dying.

“Don’t.” Dean ordered. “Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it.”

“But using Micael…I don’t know, Dean. I mean, how about one of us hides under the covers? Ya know, we’ll be the bait.” Sam suggested.

“No, that wouldn’t work. It’s gotta get close enough to feed. It’ll see us. Believe me I don’t like it, but it’s gotta be the kid.” Dean said he stood up with tears in his eyes.

……….

“You’re crazy!” Michael said once they explained the plan, “Just go away or I’m calling the cops.” The boy said holding the front desk’s phone up threateningly.

“Sweetheart, just hang on a sec and listen to us.’ Dakota said calmly.

“You have you believe us, okay?” Dean said, “This thing came through the window and attacked your brother. I’ve seen it, I know what it looks like, ‘cause it attacked my sister once and it almost got my brother, too.” Michael looked sceptical and put the phone down.

“The thing..it’s like…does it have a long black robe?” Michael asked.

“You saw it last night didn’t you?” Dean asked.

“I thought I was having a nightmare.” Michael confessed.

Dean hesitated for a moment before saying, “I’d give anything not to tell you this, but sometimes nightmares are real.”

“So why are you telling me?” Michael asked.

“Because we need your help.” Dean said, “The three of us, we can kill it, it’s what we do. But we can’t do it without you.”

“What? No!” Michael said.

“Dean…” Dakota tried to get his attention, but he waved her off.

“Listen to me, this thing hurt Asher, and it’s gonna keep hurting kids unless we stop it. Do you understand me?” Dean said strictly. Dakota looked over at Sam and saw that he looked ready to step in too.

Ten minutes later they were back in there hotel room.

“Well, that went crappy.” Dean said.

“What did you expect?” Sam asked sitting on the bed that Dakota was lounging on while Dean paced the room.

“Yeah, you can’t ask an adult to do something like that, much less a kid.” Dakota said. There was a knock on the door and Dean went to answer it. Dakota and Sam stood up to see who it was.

Michael was standing on the other side of the door looking very determined, “If you kill it, will Asher get better?”

Dean looked back and Sam and Dakota who shrugged, “Honestly, we don’t know.”

“You said you’re an older brother, right?” Michael asked and Dean nodded, “You’d take care of your little brother? You’d do anything for him?”

Dean looked back and Dakota and Sam with a soft smile, “Yea, I would.”

“Me too. I’ll help.” Michael said. Dakota’s eyes widened in shock, she didn’t think that she would have said yes if she had been in his position, but then again she had never been an older sibling.

……….

Dakota and Dean were setting up camcorders with night vision in Michael and Asher’s bedroom while Sam hooked them up to his laptop in the next room.

“Are we good?” Dakota asked.

“Little to the left.” She heard Sam call from the other room. She made the adjustment and went into the other room while Dean stayed in the room to give Michael instructions.

“Do you think this will work?” Sam asked.

“Yes. The real question is, what’s going to happen to those kids once this thing is dead.” Dakota pointed out.

Several hours later they were sitting around and watching Sam’s laptop screen which showed the

Livestream of Michael’s room.

“What time is it?” Dakota asked.

Sam looked down at his wrist watch, “3 am.” Dakota groaned.

“We sure these iron rounds are going to work?” Sam asked.

“Concentrated iron rounds.” Dean corrected, “And yes, that’s what Dad used last time.”

Sam stood up to stretch his legs for a moment and Dakota turned to Dean, “Hey Dean? I’m sorry. I know I give you a lot of crap for always following Dad’s orders, but I know why you do it.”

“Oh God. Kill me now.” Dean complained.

“Nope. We’re going to have a moment. Come here.” She held her arms out for a hug. Dean groaned, but gave her a hug anyways. Sam came and sat back down as Dakota and Dean broke apart.

“Wait. Look.” Dean said pointing at the screen. Dakota looked at the window, but only saw the shadow of the branches of the tree moving then she saw that one of the branches was moving closer to the window.

The window opened and Dakota pulled out her gun and made sure it was ready to go, she heard Sam and Dean loading their weapons as well. They watched the creature climb into the room and approach Michael’s bed, but she and Sam waited for Dean’s signal before heading in. They waited until the striga was right over Michael before they got up and burst into the room.

“Michael, down!” Dean yelled and Dakota waited until the young boy had rolled off the bed before opening fire. They emptied two entire clips into the striga by the time it finally hit the ground. Michael started to climb out from under the bed.

“Sit tight.” Dakota told him and he stilled. Dean went towards the fallen monster. The striga jumped up and grabbed Dean, throwing him across the room then suddenly it appeared in front of Sam and gave him the same treatment. Then he turned on Dakota and she fired two more shots into him, but it kept coming. It wrapped it’s boney hand around her throat and Dakota felt herself being drained as a white light began to come out of her.

“Hey!” Dean yelled. The striga looked up and Dean shot it right between the eyes. As Dakota caught her breath she saw Dean rush over to Sam, “You okay, little brother?” Dean asked and she saw Sam nod as he pulled himself off the ground.

“Baby Girl, you okay?” Dean asked her. She weakly held up two thumbs up as she felt some life return to her body and her breath some back.

“It’s okay Michael, you can come out now.” Michael came out from under the bed and walked over to stand with them. He looked down at the striga and then up at Dean who put a hand on his shoulder. Dakota looked at the sweet scene in front of her and smiled.

……….

The next morning they were packing up the car when Michael and Asher’s mother came up to them.

“Hey. Joanna. How’s Asher?” Dean asked as Dakota put the last bag in the trunk and closed it.

“Have you seen Michael?” Joanna asked. Dakota looked around and saw the boy running up to his mom from across the parking lot.

“How’s Ash?” Michael asked and Dakota felt on edge as she waited to hear if the kids would be okay.

“I’ve got good news. Your brother going to be fine. No one can explain it. It’s…it’s a miracle.” Joanna said and Dakota let out a huge sigh of relief to know that all of the kids would be okay.

“That’s great!” Dakota said.

“So, did anything happen while I was gone?” Joanna asked and Dakota all of a sudden realised that Michael might not keep their secret, she looked over at Sam and Dean and saw them all tense up.

“No, same old stuff.” Michael said. Dakota thought this case might have knocked a few years off of her life with the amount of stress involved in it.

Michael and Joanna said goodbye and got in their car to go visit Asher and Dakota turned to walk to the car.

“Ya know it’s too bad.” Sam said.

“What are you talking about?” Dakota asked.

“Yeah, they’ll be fine.” Dean said.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant Michael. He’ll always know there are things out there in the dark. He’ll never be the same, ya know?” Sam said. Dakota saw Dean’s jaw clenched and he climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Ya know, sometimes I wish I could have that kind of innocents.” Dakota said and Sam nodded as they climbed into the car.

Dean started the car, but didn’t start driving. Instead he sighed and and looked at Sam and Dakota, “If it means anything, sometime I wish you guys could, too.”


	35. Provenances Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This sections of this fic is almost done! Season two will continue as a sequel, but I am struggling to come up with a name, let me know if you have any suggestions.

Dakota was dancing around to a live band with a cute boy who she didn’t know the name of and who she would never see again and she was loving it. As the song came to an end she gave the guy a quick kiss on the cheek and walked over to the bar to grab a beer. After she ordered, she leaned on the counter facing out towards the open area of the bar, she saw Dean flirting with some girl and Sam sitting by himself reading through their dad’s journal. She grabbed her drink and went over to join him.

“Anything riveting you found in there, that you didn’t find the first hundred times you read that?” She sassed.

Sam grabbed a newspaper that was laying next to him, “Wow, you’re so funny.” He sassed back and he waved Dean over to their table.

“Alright, I think I got something…” Sam started.

“Me too. I think we need to take a little shore leave just for a little bit. What do you think?” Dean asked.

“I game. Let’s go to the beach!” Dakota said taking a sip of her beer.

“I’m so in the door with this one.” Dean said pointing to the girl he had just been flirting with.

“What are we today, Dean? Are we rockstars? Are we army rangers?” Sam asked.

“We’re L.A. television scouts looking for people with special skills.” Dean chuckled and Dakota laughed along with him.

“Well hey, it’s not that far off.” Dakota said

“By the way she has a friend over there. I could probably hook you up. What do you think?” Dean asked. Dakota turned her full attention  towards Sam, he hadn’t even looked at another woman since Jessica died, it was obvious that they were in love and Dakota wasn’t sure when if ever Sam would fully be able to move on.

“Dean, no thanks. I can get my own dates.” Sam said.

“Yeah, you can, but you don’t.” Dean said. Dakota stepped on his foot, but ended up hurting herself since Dean was wearing his steel toed boots.

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Sam asked.

“Nothing. What do you got?” Dean asked and Dakota rolled her eyes.

Sam looked down at the newspaper, “Mark and Ann Telesca of New Paltz, New York, were both found dead in their home just a few days ago. Throats slit, no fingerprints, no murder…Dean?” Sam asked and Dakota looked over to her right and saw that Dean was staring at the girls again. She snapped her fingers in front of his face and he snapped back to the conversation.

“Sam, you were saying.” Dakota said gesturing for him to continue.

Sam glared at Dakota and Dean before continuing, “All the doors and windows were locked from the inside.

“Could just be a garden-variety murder.” Dean pointed out.

“Yeah, doesn’t sound very supernatural. It might not be our department.” Dakota said finally taking a seat across from Sam instead of standing up.

Sam held up a finger, signally them to wait as he flipped to a page in their dad’s journal, “No, Dad says differently.”

Dakota scrunched her eyebrows, “What do you mean?” She asked.

Sam pointed to some news articles taped into the journal, “Look. Dad noted three similar murders that all took place in upstate New York. First one in 1912, second one 1945, and third one 1970. The same M.O. as the Telescas, their throats were slit and the house was locked from the inside. So much time as passed between the murders that nobody checked for a pattern.” Sam said.

“Except for Dad.” Dakota pointed out.

“Exactly, he always kept his eyes peeled for another one.” Sam said.

“And now we got one. Alright, it’s worth checking out.” Dean said. “We can’t pick this up till first thing, though, right?” Dean asked.

“Yea.” Sam stated as though it was obvious.

“Great!” Dean said and he stood up to continue talking to the girls.

“Sorry Sam. I’m with him. If you need me I will be doing shots at the bar or on the dance floor. Or possibly both.” Dakota smirked and she rushed over to the dance floor right as the band came back onto the stage to start their next set.

……….

The next morning Dakota and Sam were breaking into the Telesca house and sweeping it for any paranormal activity while Dean slept off a hangover in the car. As they walked closer they saw him leaning against the passenger side window, with sunglasses on, dead asleep. Dakota noticed that he had left the window rolled down and got a genius idea; she looked over at her twin who was wearing the same evil grin as her, giving her the okay. She leaned in through the driver’s side door and pressed down on the horn as hard as she could. Dean jumped awake, crying out and Sam nearly doubled over laughing. Dakota wiped the tears out of her eyes as she climbed behind the wheel.

“So not cool, kid!” Dean yelled holding his head.

“It was kinda cool.” Dakota said.

“So, we just finished sweeping the Telesca house for EMF and it’s clean.” Sam said.

“And last night while you were…out…” Dakota cringed and she saw Sam smirk out of the corner of her eye.

Dean interrupted her with a smug smile, “Good times.”

Dakota closed her eyes to block out the mental image, “Anyways, I checked the history of the house. No hauntings, no violent crimes, nothing strange about the Telescas themselves, either.”

“So, if it’s not the people, and it’s not the house, maybe it’s the contents. A curse object or something.” Dean guessed.

“The house is clean.” Sam said.

“You already said that.” Dean pointed out.

“No. He means it literally.” Dakota explained and Dean raised an eyebrow.

“No furniture, nothing. Everything is gone.” Sam said.

“Where’s all there stuff?” Dean asked.

……….

The Impala looked very out of place in front of Daniel Blake Auctions and Estates next to all the fancy new Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Walking in and seeing men and women in very fancy dress made Dakota feel very self conscious in her ripped black jeans, combat boots, Sabbath shirt and leather jacket which was strange since she normally didn’t care what people thought about her, but she found herself brushing her long, wavy blond hair with her fingers and fidgeting with her clothes.

“Hey.” Sam whispered softly as they walked around the nice objects, “You look fine. Stop worrying.” And Dakota took a deep breath.

“Auctions. Estate sales. It’s like a garage sale for W.A.S.P.s if you ask me.” Dean muttered.

“Can I help you gentlemen, lady?” A voice said behind them. Dakota turned on her heels and saw an older man in a suit standing there.

“I’d like some champagne please.” Dean said as he swiped an hor d’oeuvre from a pacing tray. The man’s eyes widened in shock along with Dakota’s as she realized what Dean just did.

“He’s not a waiter.” Sam said in a harsh whisper. He turned back to the man in the suit, “I’m Sam Connors. This is my sister Dakota and my brother Dean. We are art dealers with Connors Limited.”

“You’re art dealers?” The man scoffed.

“Yes sir.” Dakota said sweetly.

“I’m Daniel Blake. This is my auction house. Now Mr. Connors, Ms. Connors, this is a private showing and I don’t remember seeing you on the guest list.” Mr. Blake said.

“Well check again, Chuckles. We’re there.” Dean smirked and Dakota closed her eyes to avoid rolling them in front of Mr. Blake. Dean snagged two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and deeply inhaled one of them before raising his eyebrows at Daniel Blake and walking away.

Dakota looked back and Mr. Blake, “Cheers.” she said before following Dean with Sam close behind. Once they caught up, Dean shoved the second glass of champagne into her hands. They started browsing through the items found at the Telesca estate. After a little bit of browsing Dakota noticed Sam staring at a painting and went to look at it as well just as Dean was walking over as well. Together they stared at the creepy and slightly disturbing portrait of a family.

“A fine example of  American Primitive wouldn’t you say?” A gentle, smooth voice said behind them. Dakota turned and saw a young woman with her long, black hair pulled into a low bun and wearing an elegant low cut black dress with matching black heels.

“Well, I’d say it’s more Grant Wood than Grandma Moses.” Sam said with a small smile and the girl gave a small smile and looked at the ground with her cheeks stained pink, “But you already knew that, you just wanted to see if I did.”

“Guilty. And clumsy. I apologise.” The girl said looking up with her big hazel eyes. Dakota smiled at Sam and the girl flirting, it was nice to see him laughing. “I’m Sarah Blake.” She introduced.

“I’m Sam.” He said still smiling and shook her hand.

“I’m Dakota. Nice to meet you.” She said shaking Sarah’s hand. She let go and gestured to her right, “And this is my brother Dean.” Dakota looked over and saw that Dean was shoveling several small pastries into his mouth.

“Hello Dean. Can I interest you in some more mini quiche?” Sarah asked politely.

“No thanks. I’m good.” Dean said around a mouth full of food and Dakota hung her head in shame.

Sarah turned her full attention back to Sam, “So, can I help you with anything?”

Sam was smiling stupidly at Sarah so Dakota stepped in, “Yes, what can you tell us about the Telesca estate?” Dakota asked.

Sarah clasped her hands in front of her, “The whole thing is pretty grisly if you ask me, selling their things so soon. But Dad is right about one thing, sensationalism draws in the crowds. Even the rich ones.” Dakota’s respect for Sarah skyrocketed, she made Sam happy, was the only person here not looking down on them, and she had a perspective on the world that was normally lost on the wealthy.

“Is it possible to see the provenances?” Sam asked and Dakota quickly turned her head to look at him, she had no idea what Sam was asking for.

“I’m afraid there isn’t any chance of that.” Daniel Blake said walking up behind his daughter and everyone grins immediately dropped.

“Why not?” Sam asked trying to sound indifferent.

“Because, you’re not on the guest list and I think it’s time to leave.” Mr. Blake said.

“Well, we don’t have to be told twice.” Dean said.

“Apparently you do.” Mr. Blake snarked.

“Okay. It’s alright. We don’t want any trouble, we’ll go.” Dakota said holding her hands up in surrender.

……….

They pulled up in front of their motel room after checking and and unloading their bags from the car.

“Grant Wood, Grandma Moses, what?” Dean asked referring to Sam conversation with Sarah.

“Art history course. It’s good for meeting girls.” Sam explained.

“It’s like I don’t even know you anymore.” Dakota said.

Dean unlocked the door and they walked into the most disco, 70s room Dakota had ever seen. “Huh.” All three said at once before throwing their stuff onto their beds. Dakota immediately walked over to the coach and started making it into a bed.

“So, what was the provenance?” Dakota asked.

“It’s a certificate of origin, like a biography, ya know? We can use them to track the history of the pieces, see if anything’s got a freaky past.” Sam said.

“Well, we’re not going to get anything out of Chuckles, but Sarah…” Dean said with a cocky grin.

“Maybe you can get her to write it down on a napkin.” Sam sassed.

“I think you should talk to her Sam, she seems to really like you.” Dakota said pulling out some of her knives.

“Oh no, no, no. Hook ups aren’t my thing.” Sam argued.

“You don’t have to hook up, just talk to her.” Dakota encouraged.

“C’mon Sam, she was checking you out.” Dean agreed.

“In other words, you want me to use her to get information.” Sam said.

“No! I want you to talk to the pretty, smart girl who was staring at your ass!” Dakota smirked. Sam glared at her and Dean broke down laughing.

……….

After much persuasion, Dakota and Dean finally managed to talk Sam into seeing Sarah. Now the two were out at a fancy restaurant leaving Dakota and Dean at the motel.

“We should go do something.” Dakota suggested laying with her feet hanging over the top of the sofa and her head nearly on the ground.

“Like what?” Dean asked from where he was laying on his bed. “We could go to a bar.” he suggested.

“We always do that!” Dakota complained. She turned herself around so she was properly sitting on the couch, “C’mon! We’re in New York and the city is only an hour and a half away! Let’s go try to see a concert, let’s go to a movie, let’s do something!”

“Ya know what we should do? We should go bowling and play some arcade games.” Dean said.

“Yes!” Dakota shouted excitedly. They quickly got up and started grabbing their jackets and shoes and headed out the door.

They pulled up in front of Zodos Bowling Alley and Arcade and practically ran inside. Dean paid for two hours on their lane and Dakota grabbed her shoes and went to find a bowling ball. She was so excited, it had been ages since she had gone bowling, Dean used to take her and Sam as often as he could when they were kids.

She walked over to their lane and saw a pizza and two beers waiting next to Dean who was entering their names into the computer. Naturally he put himself as the first bowler and got a spare on this first round. Dakota wet next and got a strike, she turned around and stuck her tongue out at Dean. After two hours and two games, Dakota winning the first and Dean winning the second, they went into the arcade section, got some tokens, and went over to the wall of skeeball. Because everything had to be a competition with them, Dean suggested that they place a bet, whoever had the lower score had to give the winner five of their tickets for each game they lost. They went back and forth, swapping tickets until Sam texted them and said that he was on his way back to the motel and needed to talk to them.

“All right kiddo. We gotta go.” Dean said trying to steer Dakota towards the door.

“But we haven’t even spent out tickets yet!” She whined.

Dean sighed and grabbed Dakota tickets out of her hand and walked over to the prize table. He came back a minute later holding a poorly made stuffed dog which he threw at her, “Don’t say I never did anything for ya, now let’s go!” Dakota hugged the dog and followed Dean out to the car.

Back at the motel, Sam explained everything Sarah had told him, “So she just handed the provenances over to you?” Dakota asked

“Yes, we went back to her place and she gave me copies of the papers.” Sam explained.

“And?” Dean asked.

“And nothing. That’s it. I left.” Sam snapped.

“You didn’t have to con her or do any special favors?” Dean asked.

Dakota saw Sam roll his eyes, “Would you please get your mind out of the gutter?” He asked

“When this whole thing is over you should call her again.’ Dakota suggested.

“Why?” Sam asked not looking up from the copies.

“So you can take her out again.” Dean explained. “It’s obvious you’re into her, even I can see that.”

“Hey, I think I got something.” Sam said. Dakota stood up and walked over to Sam who gave a humorless laugh and handed the papers to her.

She read out loud so Dean could hear, “‘Portrait of Isaiah Merchant’s family painted in 1910.’ So what?” Dakota asked.

“Now compare the owners of the painting to the victims names in Dad book.” Sam said. Dean walked over and grabbed the journal off his bed and read off the names to Dakota whose face paled as she saw that all of the names matched up.

“But why the huge gap between 70 and the current murder?” Dean asked.

“Um…” Dakota flipped through the papers, “Here. The portrait was store until it was donated to a charity auction last month, where the Telescas bought it.”

Sam nodded, “So, what do we think? Is it haunted or cursed?”

“Either way, it’s toast.” Dean said waggling his eyebrows.

……….

Later that night, dressed entirely in black Dakota found herself quickly climbing over a ten foot tall iron fence shortly followed by Sam and Dean. Dakota and Sam ran over to the alarm panel that was outside of the back door, she held up a flashlight while Sam disabled the system.

“You’re good.” Sam whispered and Dean began to pick the lock on the door. Once they got in, they started searching for the painting. They covered the entire ground floor and found nothing so Dakota quietly walked up the metal, spiral staircase and immediately saw the disturbing portrait leaning next to the top of the stairs.

“Bingo.” Dakota whispered to herself. “I’ve got it.” She said in a loud whisper and she saw Sam and Dean turn to look at her then run up the stairs to help her with the large painting. “Hold the light for me.” She asked and both Sam and Dean shined their light for her. She pulled out her butterfly knife and cut the portrait straight out of the frame then she rolled it up and they headed out back to destroy it. Dean laid it out in the driveway and lite a match.

“Ugly ass thing. If you ask me, we’re doing the world a favor.” Dean said. Dakota hated to admit that she enjoyed the warmth the burning portrait provided against the cold night.

Dakota felt her bed getting moved around and groaned. She swatted at whatever was interrupting her sleep and felt some one flick her ear in return.

“Ow!” Dakota said sitting up on her makeshift bed. She rubbed her eyes then looked around the motel room which looked like a tornado had ripped through it, “What the Hell happened?” She asked.

“We’ve got a problem. I can’t find my wallet.” Dean said still riffling through the room.

Dakota heard Sam laugh and looked over to see him packing up his things, ready to head out now that they had burned the painting.

“‘Cause I think I dropped it in the warehouse last night.” Dean said.

Dakota looked at him in shock, “You’re kidding me right?”

“I mean, it’s got my prints, my I.D….well, my fake I.D, anyway but we got to go get it before someone else finds it. C’mon!” Dean said rushing out the door into the cold without even a jacket on.

“Can’t I get dressed first?” Dakota asked Sam, looking down at her dad’s old shirt and sleeping shorts.

They broke every speed limit to get to the auction house in time and luckily it was early enough that very few people were there. They started retracing their steps from last night when they ran into Sarah.

“Hey guys! What are you doing here?” She asked in a friendly voice.

“Oh…we…we were just leaving town and, ya know, came to say goodbye.” Sam said. Dakota rolled her eyes at Sam stupidity.

“What are you talking about Sam? We’re sticking around for at least another day or two.” Dean said. “Oh, by the way Sam. I wanted to give you the twenty bucks I owe you before I foget.” Dean said pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. Dakota’s mouth dropped open in shock and Dean grabbed her arms and dragged her to the car so Sam and Sarah could talk. “We’ll leave you crazy kids alone.”

Once they were outside Dakota said, “I don’t know if I’m impressed at the sneakiness of that or pissed because you really had me going there and waking me up early.”

After about fifteen minutes Sam came over to the car and climbed into the backseat. “We’ve got a problem.” He said.

“When don’t we?” Dakota asked sarcastically from where she was sitting in the front seat.

“I’m serious, Kota. The painting is back!” Sam said.

“What?” Dakota and Dean asked at the same time.

“I don’t understand. We burned the damn thing!” Sam said.

“Yes. Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Dean sassed. He sighed and said, “We just need to find another way to get rid of it.”

Everyone sat in silence, “So…anyone got any ideas?” Dakota asked.

“Okay. All right. Well, um, in almost all lore about haunted paintings, it’s the painting subject that haunts them.” Sam said.

“Yeah, but that’s normally for one a painting with one person in it, this is a whole family. Is it the entire family or just one member?” Dakota asked.

“We just need to figure out everything there is to know about the creepy-ass family in the creepy-ass painting.” Dean said.

“Right.” Dakota said and Dean threw the car into drive and started to pull out of the parking lot. “So does anyone remember their name?” She asked and was met with silence. “Great.” She said sarcastically.


	36. Provenances

“You said the Isaiah Merchant family, right?” The short, bald librarian asked excitedly.

“…Yes.” Dakota said, a little concerned about the man’s enthusiasm.

“I have dug up every scrap of local history I could find.” He said laying all the information down. Dakota saw sitting at the table while Sam stood up looking over the large stack of papers. She looked over her shoulder and saw Dean flipping through a magazine. “So, are you guys crime scene buffs?”

“Kinda. Why do you ask?” Dean questioned, half sitting on top of the table. Dakota leaned forward on her elbows and looked over at the man.

“Well…” He said and he held up an old newspaper and pointed to a section which read, “Father slaughters family, kills self”.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Dean said.

“The whole family was killed?” Dakota asked. So many violent deaths could lead to a lot of angry spirits.

“It seems that Isaiah slit his own kids throat, then his wife, then himself. Now, he was a barber by trade. Used a straight edge razor.

“Why did he do it?” Sam asked.

“Well let’s look.” The man sad turning the paper to face him, “Um… ‘People who knew him described Isaiah as having a stern and harsh temperament, and controlled him family with an iron fist.’ He had a wife, two sons, an adopted daughter…oh here! There were whispers that the wife was gonna take the kids and leave, which ya know, in that day and age.” He gestured and Dakota nodded. “So instead, Old Man Isaiah gave them all a shave.” He said dragging his finger across his neck.

“Does it say what happened to the bodies?” Dakota asked resting her head in her hand.

“They were all cremated.” He said. Dakota resisted the urge to groan and bang her head on the table.

“Anything else?” Sam asked trying to sound normal, but Dakota could tell that he was annoyed at the news of the bodies as well.

“Actually, I found a family photo.” He said and he opened one of the other books that was sitting on the table. He showed them the page and the portrait that they had burned previously, but something was different, something Dakota couldn’t put her finger on.

“Can I get a copy of this?” Sam asked and she knew that he must have seen something too.

They went outside and got in the car, “Why do you need a copy of that in the painting, we already know what it looks like.” Dean asked.

“Because, the painting in the book is different than the Telesca’s painting.” Dakota said.

“Kota’s right. In the painting at the auction house, Dad is looking down. The painting here, Dad is looking up.” Sam said.

“It’s changed.” Dakota said.

“So you two think that Daddy dearest is trapped in the painting, and he’s handing out Columbian neckties like he did with his family?” Dean asked.

“Well yeah. It seems like it.” Sam confirmed.

“But if his bones are already dust, then how are we gonna stop him?” Dakota asked.

Dean picked up the copy from the library and looked at it, “Well, if Isaiah’s position changed, then maybe some other things in the painting have changed as well. It could give us some clues.” Dean suggested.

“Like a ‘Da VInci Code’ deal?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know. I’m still waiting for the movie on that one.” Dean confessed.

“Oh, you should definitely read it! It’s amazing! I think you’d really like it.” Dakota suggested.

“Have you heard about his new book, “Angels and Demons?” Sam asked excitedly.

“Yes! I can’t wait! It…” Dakota started enthusiastically.

“Wow guys we’re in the middle of a case! Y’all can be nerds on your own time!” Dean said. “Anyways, we gotta get back in and see that painting, which is good because it means you have more time to crush on your girlfriend.” Dean teased, pointing at Sam before standing up and walking towards the beds.

“Dean.” Dakota said harshly as she saw Sam’s face harden.

“Dude! Enough!” Sam said.

“What?” Dean asked flopping down on the bed.

“Ever since we got here, you’ve been trying to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off alright!” Sam snapped.

“Well, you like her, yeah?” Dean questioned. Sam throws his hands up and Dakota rolled her eyes, “You like her, she likes you, you’re both consenting adults.”

“We’ll just leave. We always leave.” Sam argued. Dakota sighed as she realised that the boys weren’t going to stop arguing and she was going to either have to live through it or get in between them.

“I’m not talking about marriage, Sam.” Dean said.

“I don’t get it. Why do you care if I hook up?” Sam yelled.

“Guys! Knock it off!” Dakota snapped, but she was ignored.

“Maybe you wouldn’t be so cranky all the time.” Dean said jokingly.

Sam scoffed and went silent. Dean sat up on the bed, “Seriously, Sam, this isn’t just about hooking up, okay? I really think this Sarah girl could be good for you.” He said. Sam shook his head, “And I don’t mean any disrespect, but I’m…I’m sure this is about Jessica, right?” Dakota’s eyes went wide. She couldn’t believe he had just said that, that was almost as bad as bringing up their mom. “Now, I don’t know what it’s like to lose somebody like that…but…I would think she’d want you to be happy. God forbid have fun every once in awhile, wouldn’t she?” Dean asked. Dakota looked over and Sam saw swipe at his eyes. She could feel how much Dean could care and how he really just wanted what was best for them.

Sam gave a small smile, “Yeah, she would…You’re right. Part of this is about Jessica. But not the main part.”

“What?” Dakota asked in complete surprise. She really thought that this was about him still being in love with Jess.

“What is it about?” Dean asked. Sam went completely silent and stayed that way. Dakota looked over at Dean in confusion.

“Okay…Well, we still need to get in to see that painting.” Dakota said.

“Which means you still got to call Sarah.” Dean said. Sam sighed, picked up the phone, and stepped outside to make the call. Dakota walked over to her backpack and pulled out her iPod and flopped onto the couch she was using as a bed.

Sam came barging back in a minute later, “They sold the painting! We need to go, now. I have the address.” Sam said before walking back out the door. Dakota sighed for the hundredth time that day and dragged her body off of the couch.

……….

The tires screeched as they pulled up in front of the huge, expensive house where the person who bought the painting lived. There was a nice Jeep parked in the driveway and Dakota saw Sarah climb out of the car.

“What’s going on?” She asked. Dakota didn’t stay to hear the rest of their conversation, instead taking off towards the front door to try and save this person. Dean ran up next to her and pressed against the door to see if he could break it down.

‘I can’t knock this sucker down. Kota, can you ick it?” He asked and Dakota didn’t answer simply pulled her lock pick set out of her pocket and quickly undid the lock on the door. All of them can pick locks quickly, but Dakota was by far the fastest.

“What are you guys? Burglars?” She heard Sarah ask. Dakota didn’t respond, she simply opened the door and she and Dean burst into the room.

“Evelyn!” Sam and Sarah called out.

They walked into the livingroom and saw an older woman sitting in a Victorian style chair. Dean, Sam, and Dakota gave each other knowing looks when the woman didn’t respond to them breaking in and calling her name. Dakota looked above the fireplace and saw the portrait hanging and sure enough, in this version the father was looking down. Sarah’s screams brought her back to reality and see saw that Evelyn’s throat had been slit just like all the previous victims.

Dakota looked back up at the painting and let out a small shriek, the dad had moved so he was looking right at them. She brought a hand up to her mouth and turned to look and Sam, who had Sarah in his arms, and Dean, who looked just as freaked out as she felt.

Sam, Dean, and Dakota went back to the motel room for a few hours of sleep while Sarah talked to the police. Dakota was making some crappy, motel room instant coffee when there was a knock at the door. Sam went over to answer the door for, Dakota assumed, Sarah.

Sure enough Sarah walked in looking very angry, “I just lied to the cops and told them I went to Evelyn’s house alone and found her like that.”

“Thank you.” Sam said.

“Don’t thank me.” Sarah shot back and Dakota raised her eyebrows, she didn’t think little, rich Sarah had it in her, but she liked this girl more and more. “I’m about to call them right back if you don’t tell me what the Hell is going on. Who’s killing these people?”

“What.” Dakota corrected.

“Huh?”

“It’s not ‘who’, it’s ‘what’ is killing these people.” Dakota explained.

Sarah looked at Dakota like she was crazy and Sam tried to explain, “Sarah, you saw the painting move.”

Sarah chuckled, “No.” She denied. Dakota looked over at Dean who was sitting at the kitchen table, he gave her a look that said to let Sam handle this. “I was…I was seeing things. It’s impossible!”

“Yeah, well, welcome to our world.” Dean said with a smirk.

“Sarah, I know this sounds crazy, but we think the painting is haunted.” Sam said. Sarah looked like she was on the verge of tears as she heard this and she began pacing back and forth.

“You’re joking.” She said seriously. Dakota stared at her with a dead serious expression and she could tell without looking her brothers were giving her the same look, “You’re not joking. God the guys I go out with.” She sighed and Dakota couldn’t help but laugh.

“Think about it, Evelyn, the Telesca’s they both had the painting. And there have been others before that. Wherever this thing goes people die and we’re trying to stop it and that’s the truth.” Sam said.

Through Sam’s speech Sarah had been looking at the ground, but as soon as he finished she looked up with fire in her eyes, “Well then I guess you’d better show me. I’m coming with you.” She said and she walked further into the room, closer to Dakota and Dean like she was physically trying to be part of their group.

“What? No. Sarah you should just go home. This stuff can get dangerous and…and I don’t want you to get hurt.” Sam confessed gently.

“Look, you guys are probably crazy, but if you’re right about this when me and my dad sold that painting, we might have got these people killed. I’m not saying I’m not scared, ‘cause I’m scared as Hell, but I’m not gonna run and hide either.” Sarah said strongly. She walked towards the door and turned back to them as she put her hand on the handle, “So are we going or what?” She asked walking out the door.

“Sam.” Dean said getting his attention, “Marry that girl.” He said pointing to where Sarah had just been standing.

“Seriously! She would be the best sister-in-law!” Dakota agreed.

……….

They went back to Evelyn’s house to grab the painting and Dakota once again knelt down and unlocked the door then reached into her combat boot and pulled out her pocket knife, quickly cutting through the seal over the door declaring it a crime scene. They walked in and Sam grabbed the painting off of the wall and seat it up on the couch then took a step back so they could all stare at it.

“So…any ideas?” Dakota asked.

“Aren’t you worried that thing is going to kill us?” Sarah asked.

“No, it seems to do it’s thing at night. We should be okay in the daylight.” Sam explained.

Dakota looked at the painting, then over at Dean who had the photocopy from the library, “Anything?” She asked.

“Yea, I think I go something.” Dean confirmed and he motioned Dakota and Sam over. “The razor, it’s closed in the copy, but open in the painting.” Sam grabbed the paper out of Dean’s hands and got closer to the portrait.

“What are you guys looking for?” Sarah asked.

“If the spirit is changing aspects of the painting, maybe it’s doing it for a reason.” Dakota explained.

“Hey. Look at the painting in the painting.” Sam said. All four knelt down in front of the painting and looked at the painting which hung in the background.

“It looks like a crypt or a mausoleum or something.” Dean said. Dakota grabbed the paper from Sam and looked at the painting within the painting.

“Yeah, but the one in the copy is of a landscape.” Dakota said.

“Maybe the Merchant’s have a family crypt.” Dean suggested.

No one had any idea where the crypt was so Sarah directed them to all the graveyards she knew and they started searching them one by one.

“This is the third boneyard we’ve checked. This ghost is just jerking us around.” Dean complained as they got out of the car.

“Yeah, well, it looks like this is the last one we’re going to.” Dakota said.

“What makes you say that?” Sam asked. Dakota pointed at the crypt that read “Merchant” that was standing behind Sam and Dean.

Dean grabbed the bolt cutters out of the trunk and Dakota saw Sarah open her mouth to scream when she saw the arsenal they had in the trunk of the Impala, but Sam threw his hand over her mouth to silence her.

They walked over to the crypt and Dean cut the door open. As soon as he threw them open all four were covered in a layer of dust bursting out of the room. They climbed through a doorway full of spider webs and into the mostly empty room.

“Okay, that is the creepiest thing I have ever seen.” Sarah said. Dakota turned around to see what she was talking about and saw a shelve with four urns on it and above on of them was a glass encased porcelain doll.

“It was sorta a tradition at the time. When a child died, sometimes they’d preserve the kid’s favorite toy in a glass case, put it next to the headstone in the crypt.” Sam explained.

“Did they use to make these dolls to look exactly like the kid?” Dakota asked and Sam nodded.

“Notice anything strange here?” Dean asked.

“Where do I start?” Sarah ased and both Dakota and Sam cracked smiles.

“No, that’s not what I mean. Look at the urns.” Dean said pointing at the shelf.

“There are only four.” Sam said.

“…Mom and the kids.” Dakota suddenly realised. “Daddy dearest isn’t here.”

They left the cemetery and went to the county clerk’s office and Dakota and Dean went inside, letting Sam and Sarah have some alone time. They didn’t have any fake ID’s with them so they simply lied and said they were local college students who were writing a paper and need Isaiah’s death certificate in order to do so. After getting the death records Dakota and Dean walked back outside to see Sam and Sarah staring intently at each other with enough tension in the air you could practically feel it, or in Dakota’s case she could actually feel it and it was very uncomfortable.

“Should we wait here?” She asked.

“Let’s give it a sec and see what happens.” Dean instructed. After a moment of nothing happening they decided to walk over there. “Are we interrupting something?”

Sam and Sarah jumped apart like they had been shocked, “No.”

“Not at all.” They both denied and Dakota raised an eyebrow at them but said nothing. “So, did you get it?” Sam asked.

“Yep. Apparently the surviving members of the Merchant family were so ashamed of Isaiah that they didn’t want him interred with the family so they handed him over to the county.” Dakota explained.

“The county gave him a pauper’s funeral. Economy-style” Dean continued. “Turns out he wasn’t cremated, he was buried in a pine box.”

“So there are bone to burn?” Sam asked and Dakota and Dean nodded, “Tell me you guys know where.”

……….

“I really hate this part of our job!” Dakota complained throwing another shovel full of dirt out of the grave. She was covered in dirt and mud, her back ached, and her hands were blistered, but at least both her brothers were also digging so they could get through this faster. Sarah stood above the grave, holding the flashlight for them.

“Got it!” Dean yelled and Sam and Dakota pulled themselves out of the grave so Dean could break it open. Dakota went to grab the box of salt that was sitting off to the side and rubbed her neck and shoulders before picking it up and throwing it on Isaiah’s body. Sam followed her with a can of gasoline.

Dean lit a match and stood over the grave, “You’ve been a real pain in the ass, Isaiah.” And he dropped the match.

“Good riddance.” Dakota muttered. They turned and started walking back to the car.

They drove back to Evelyn’s to get the painting and Sam opened the door to get out, “Dean keep the motor running.”

“I thought the painting was harmless now?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah, but better safe than sorry. We’re gonna burn that sucker.” Dakota explained.

“I’m coming with you.” Sarah said and she started getting out of the car.

“Oh. Well, we don’t need three people for this. You two go, I’ll stay here with Dean.” Dakota said and she walked up to the front seat and climbed in. Sarah walked up to the door while Sam glared at them.

“Go make your move!” Dean said and Dakota gave him a thumbs up. As soon as Sam made it up the front steps to where Sarah was standing Dakota leaned forwards and turned the radio on, luckily landing on a slow-tempo romantic song and turning the volume up. Sam turned around and glared at her, making a motion for her to cut the music. Dean leaned forward and turned it off and Dakota pouted.

“Now what?” She asked once Sam and Sarah were inside.

“Now, we wait for them to burn the painting and then we leave.” Dean said like it was obvious.

“No.” Dakota sasses, “I mean, what happens if Sam and Sarah actually get together. Do we stay here? Does Sam say here and you and I hunt on our own again?” She asked.

Dean gave her a small smile, “We’ll figure it out.”

A loud slam cut off their conversation and Dakota looked over and saw the front door had slammed closed on it’s own. “That’s not good.” Dakota said.

“Wait here.” Dean said while he got out to investigate. Dakota’s phone started ringing and Sam’s name popped up on the screen.

“Hello?” She asked a little confused.

“It’s not Isaiah! It’s the little girl! She’s out of the painting. I think it might have been her all along. Wasn’t Dad looking down at her, maybe he was trying to warn us.” Dakota saw Dean trying to pick the door and called him over.

“Hey Dean! We gotta go to the graveyard!” Dean came running over and got into the car and started driving.

“What’s your plan? The kid was already cremated.” Dean said.

“Not all of her.” Dakota said confidently.

“What?” Dean asked.

“The doll in the glass case. Not only did the make them look like the kids sometime they made them with the kids hair or the dolls clothes were scarps of the child’s clothes. The doll has to be her remains.” Dakota explained.

“How do you know that?”

“I read it in a book. I remember one of the characters had a doll like that.” She said with a shrug.

Dean hadn’t even completely stopped the car before Dakota was jumping out and running to the crypt. “Call Sam and let him know what we’re doing!” She called over her shoulder. She ran up to the glass case and balled her jacket up over her elbow before jamming it into the glass causing it to shatter. She grabbed the doll and the lighter out of her jean pocket and lit the hair on hire. She put the doll down as it burned. “Did it work?” She asked Dean.

He was still talking to Sam so he gave her a thumbs up and a nod and Dakota released a sigh of relief. They drove back to Evelyn’s and picked up Sam, Sarah, and the painting which was now restored to its original state. The next morning Dean went to the county clerk’s office to dig up information on the little girl while Sam and Dakota snuck the painting back into the auction house with Sarah’s help. There were moving men wrapping up all of the sold objects and mailing them to their new owners, but no one seemed to notice them.

Dean walked up to them a few minutes later with a stack of papers, “The Merchant’s adopted daughter, Melanie. Know why she was adopted? Cause her real family was murdered in their beds. Who would suspect a sweet little girl. So she then killed Isaiah and his family, the old man takes the blame, and he’s been trying to warn people ever since.” Dean explained.

“Where this one going?” One of the mover asked Sarah.

“Take it out back and burn it.” She said and everyone turned to look at her, “I’m serious.” She said. The moving guy shrugged and carried the painting away.

“Well that’s over.” Dakota said.

“Oh..so you guys are leaving now?” Sarah asked all of them although Dakota suspected that she was really only asking Sam. The two stood there staring at each other, oblivious to everything else.

“Well this is awkward. I’m going to wait in the car. Lovely meeting you Sarah, see you around.” Dakota said grabbing Dean by his leather jacket and dragging him out with her. “I’m the one who burned the doll and destroyed the spirit, but don’t thank me or anything.” Dakota muttered under her breath. Dakota went and leaned against the trunk along with Dean, when Sam walked out looking severally depressed and Sarah closed the door behind him. Dakota couldn’t believe that he was walking away and apparently Sam couldn’t either because halfway door the stairs he ran back up and knocked on the door.

Dakota quickly turned her head away as Sarah and Sam started kissing. Dean looked ridiculously smug as he and Dakota climbed into the car.

“That’s my boy.” Dean said.

“I’m so glad we took this case.” Dakota said with a smile.


	37. Dead Man's Blood Part 1

Dakota was sipping coffee in a diner while flipping through a newspaper, “All right, guys. Not a decent lead in all of Nebraska. Anyone have anything?” She asked rubbing her temples. She hated being in busy areas nowadays, too many emotions flying around causing her to have headaches, but she pushed past it and kept working.

“I’ve been scanning Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota.” Sam said not looking up from his laptop, “Here, a woman in Iowa fell 10,000 feet from an airplane and survived.” Sam read.

“That sounds more ‘That’s incredible’ than ‘The Twilight Zone’.” Dean said. “Ya know, we could just keep heading East. New York, Upstate. We could swing by and see Sarah again.” Dean suggested waggling his eyebrows.

“I’m in.” Dakota said, “I like her, plus anything beats just randomly driving around and praying we’ll catch wind of a case.”

“She’s a cool chick man. Smokin’. You two seemed pretty friendly. What do you say?” Dean asked.

“C’mon Sam. It could be fun. And Dean’s right, you two seemed to really hit it off.” Dakota agreed. Sam had a small smile and a blush on his face.

“I don’t know. Maybe some day. But, right now we’ve got a lot of work to do and you know that.” Sam scolded.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Dean pouted.

“Anything else out there?” Dakota asked pointing to the laptop.

“Uh…a man in Colorado by the name of Daniel Elkins…” Sam read and Dakota stopped for a moment. She was sure she had heard that name before somewhere, “…was found mauled in his home.”

“Elkins. I swear I know that name.” Dakota said.

“It does sound familiar.” Dean muttered.

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Anyways, looks like the cops don’t know what to think. At first they thought it was some sort of bear attack…” Sam started and Dakota tuned out after that, reaching into the pocket of the leather jacket Dean had thrown over his chair and grabbing their dad’s journal from it. She started flipping through the pages for the name Elkins and she saw Dean look at her out of the corner of his eye, but he was still mainly focused on Sam.

“Got it. D. Elkins and a phone number that starts with a Colorado area code.” Dakota read from the book.

“Alright. You win.” Sam closed his laptop in defeat. Dean grabbed the journal from her hands and threw a twenty on the table before they headed to the car.

……….

Snow was lightly falling as the pulled up to the cabin off the beaten road where Daniel Elkins used to live. Dakota shivered slightly the moment she was out of the car and wished she had thrown on more layers than a flannel and a baggy hoodie. Freezing to death from wearing ripped jeans and hiking boots seemed like a awful way to go. The police must have thought it really was an animal attack because there was no tape around the house or any signs that there had been a crime scene investigation there. They quietly walked into the cold, dark cabin and split up to look for a sign of what killed this man. Dakota walked into the kitchen and saw that there were several containers of salt stacked up in one corner.

“W definitely have the right place.” She called out.

“Looks like the maid didn’t come today.” Dean said and Dakota followed the sound of his voice to the study which looked like it had been overturned in a fight.

“Hey, there salt over here by the door.” Sam called out.

“Big shock. You should see the stock pile of it in the kitchen.” Dakota said. She saw that one of the walls had drawings pinned to it and walked over to get a closer look.

“Are we talking protection-against-demon salt or oops-I-spilled-the-popcorn salt?” Dean asked.

“It’s clearly a ring.” Sam said. “You think this guy Elkin’s was a player?”

“Based on the salt ring and the fact I’m staring at a wall full of drawings of monsters, I’m going to say yes.” Dakota said.

“I found his journal. It looks a Hell of a lot like Dad’s, except it dates back to the 60s.” Dean said and Dakota turned around just as Sam was entering the room.

“I don’t think this was a demon. There’s no sulfur and not nearly enough blood. Let’s keep looking.” Dakota suggested. The boys nodded and they walked out of the room. Down the hallway there was what appeared to be another study, this one in more disarray than the last.

“Whatever attacked them, it looks like there was more than one.” Sam said shining his flashlight at the ceiling. Dakota followed the light and saw that there was a skylight that had been completely shattered.

“Looks like he put up a Hell of a fight too.” Dean commented.

“What were they after?” Dakota muttered and she started walking around the room, kicking an empty wooden gun box until she heard scratching. She turned around and saw Dean trying to lift an imprint with a pencil and piece of paper.

“That look familiar to you?” He asked handing Sam the paper.

“Three letters, six numbers.” Sam said.

“The location and combination to a post office box. It’s a mail drop.” Dakota said.

“That’s just the way Dad does it.” Dean pointed out.

……….

After successfully picking the lock at the post office Dakota stood at the front door on watch while Sam and Dean went looking for the box. The boys came out a moment later and Dean showed her the sole letter that had been in the box.

“J.W. You think? John Winchester?” She asked once they were back in the car, propping herself on the front bench so she could talk to her brothers.

“I don’t know. Should we open it?” Dean asked. Someone knocked on the window and they all jumped.

“Dad?” Dakota asked once she saw who it was. John opened the back door and climbed in next to her.

“Dad what are you doing here? Are you alright?” Sam bombarded. Dakota mentally set a timer for the next fight.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Look, I read the news about Daniel. I got her as fast as I could. I saw you three up at his place.” He confessed.

“Why didn’t you come in?” Dakota asked.

“You know why. Because I had to make sure you weren’t followed by anyone or anything. Nice job of covering your tracks, by the way.” John complemented and Dakota smiled.

“Yeah, well, we learn from the best.” Dean said.

“Wait, so you came all the way out here for this Elkins guy?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. He was a good man. He taught me a Hell of a lot about hunting.” Their Dad said.

“You never mentioned him to us.” Sam pointed out.

“We…we had kind of a falling out. I hadn’t seen him in years.” John said and Dakota suppressed her urge to roll her eyes. She had lost count of how many people her dad had “had a falling out” with. Dean handed their dad the letter which he opened and carefully angled so Dakota couldn’t read what was on the paper.

“‘If you’re reading this then I’m already dead…’” John read.

“That’s what I’m going to open my will and testament with.” Dakota commented before Dean hushed.

“That son of a bitch! He had it the whole time!” Their dad announced after finishing the letter.

“Dad, what?” Sam asked.

“When you searched the place, did you see a gun, an antique, a colt revolver? Did you see it?” John asked

Sam and Dean shook their heads, “…well, there was an old case, but it was empty.” Dakota said.

“They have it.” John said.

“You mean whatever killed Elkins.” Dean said.

“We got to pick up their trail.” John said opening the door and getting out of the car.

Sam, Dean, and Dakota looked at each other in shock before Dean rolled his window down and yelled out for their dad.

“Wait. You want us to come with you?” Dean asked.

“If Elkins is telling the truth then we’ve got to find this gun and it will be faster with all four of us.” John explained.

“The gun? Why?” Dakota asked.

“Because it’s important, that’s why.” John said in an annoyed tone that stopped Dakota from asking any more questions.

“Dad, we don’t even know what these things are yet.” Sam pointed out.

“They were what Danny Elkins killed best…vampires.” John said.

“Vampires.” Dean repeated in disbelief.

“But, you always said there was no such thing.” Dakota said.

“I thought they were extinct. I thought Elkins and the others had wiped them out.I was wrong.” He said before walking to his truck.

“Sam!  Dad admitted he was wrong and wants us to work with him, so that means you have to stop being a bitch.” Dakota said.

“I give it five minutes.” Dean said before pulling the car onto the road behind their dad.

……….

“Most vampire lore is crap. A cross won’t repel them, sunlight won’t kill them and neither will a stake to the heart. But the bloodlust, that part’s true, they need fresh human blood to survive. They were once people, so you won’t know it’s  vampire until it’s too late.” John had told them once they got back to the motel room they were all sharing. Dakota was passed out on the couch when someone tapped her foot, waking her up. She knew right away it was her dad since that was how he always woke them up.

She sat up and watched as he woke up Sam and Dean, “What happened? She asked groggily.

“A couple called 911. They found a body in the street. Cops got there, everyone was missing. It’s the vampires.” John said grabbing his gear.

“How do you know?” Sam asked.

“Just follow me, okay?” John snapped at them. Dakota could feel that their dad wasn’t really annoyed or angry at them, but he was desperate for something, for the gun.

“Vampires. It gets funnier everytime I hear it.” Dean smirked.

They climbed into the Impala and Dean deemed himself too tired at five in the morning to drive so Sam drove and Dakota sat in the passenger’s seat. They got to the crime scene and their dad had them wait by the car while he talked to the police.

“I don’t see why we couldn’t go over there with him.” Sam complained.

“Because you two like winding each other up and fighting.” Dakota said.

“Oh, ‘cause you and Dad get along so well.” Sam sassed.

“Don’t tell me it’s starting already.” Dean complained.

“What’s starting?” Sam asked as John walked back over to them

“It was them alright. It looks like they’re heading west. We have to double back to get around that detour.” Their dad said.

“How can you be so sure?” Sam asked and Dakota and Dean glared at him, “I just want to know we’re going in the right direction.”

“We are.” John said.

“How do you know?” Sam asked.

John reached into his pocket and pulled something out and handed it to Dean, “What is that? A vampire fang?”

“No fangs, teeth. The second set descend when they attack. Any more questions?” John sassed Sam. “Let’s get out of here. We’re losing daylight. And, Dean, why don’t you touch up your car before you get rust. I wouldn’t have given it to you the damn thing if I thought you were gonna ruin it.” John said walking towards his truck. Dean sighed and threw the car keys at Sam who immediately climbed in.

“Hey.” Dakota said and Dean looked up at her. She didn’t really know what to say, she just felt like she had to say something. Shec could feel the sadness and shame radiating off of Dean and it made her want to cry to see her biggest brother hurting. She settled for just smiling and climbing in the backseat.

They were closely following John’s black truck and Dean was flipping through some of the vampire lore their dad had given them, “Vampires nest in groups of eight to ten. Smaller groups are sent out to hunt for food. Victims are taken to the nest where the pack keeps them alive, bleeding them for weeks or days.”

“I wonder if that’s what happened to that 911 couple.” Dakota said.

“That’s probably what Dad is thinking.” Sam said, “Of course, it would be nice if he just told us what he thinks.”

“And so it begins.” Dakota stated ominously.

“What?” Sam asked.

“Sam, we’ve been looking for Dad all year. Now we’re not with him for more than a couple of hours and their static already.” Dean said.

“No. Look, I’m happy he’s okay, all right, and I’m happy we’re all working together. It’s just the way he treats us like we’re children. He barks orders at us. He expects us to follow them with question. He keeps us on some crap need-to-know deal” Sam complained and Dakota rolled her eyes. Sure, her and John hadn’t always seen eye to eye and they had had a big falling out around four years ago, but Sam and their dad were on a whole other level of issues.

“He does what he does for a reason. There’s no time to argue! There’s no margin for error! That’s just the way the old man runs things.” Dean argued.

“Guys knock it off.” Dakota begged.

“Yeah, well, maybe that worked when we were kids, but not anymore, all right. Not after everything the three of us have been through. Are you telling me you’re cool with just falling into line and letting him run the show?” Sam asked.

Dean was silent for a moment, “If that’s what it takes.” His phone started ringing and Dakota tuned out for a while, staring out the window at the passing scenery. She was aware so Dean giving Sam instructions, but didn’t actually pay attention until Sam revved the engine and pulled in front of the truck before yanking the wheel and turning the car so it was blocking the road. Sam got off of the car looking very pissed.

“Oh crap.” Dean said unbuckling.

“Here we go.” Dakota said

“What the Hell was that about?” John shouted and Dakota couldn’t hear Sam’s answer since she was getting out of the car. She looked over and saw Sam and their dad in each ithers faces.

“About everything. Where are we going? What’s the big deal about this gun?” Sam asked.

Dean pushed Dakota behind him some, both of them knowing this was going to get ugly, “We can Q & A after we kill all the vampires.” Dean suggested.

“Your brother is right. We don’t have time for this.” John agreed.

“ Last time we saw you, you said it was too dangerous to be together. Now, out of the blue, you need our help. Now obviously something big is going down and we want to know what!” Sam yelled,

“Woah, woah, woah. We? Don’t drag Dean and me into this.” Dakota said holding her head in her hands. The amount of emotions from her dad and Dean was killing her, she had never been so thankful she couldn’t read Sam.

“Get back in the car.” John ordered.

“No.” Sam said.

“I said get back in the damn car.” John said  and Sam stood his ground.

“Okay, you made your point tough guy.” Dean said.

“Look, we’re all tired. We can talk about this later.” Dakota said trying to be the logical, clear headed one.

“Sammy, I mean it come on.” Dean said grabbing his arm and dragging him to the car.

“This is why I left in the first place.” Sam muttered and Dakota froze, knowing her brother had just announced war. Se looked over at Dean who looked equally as worried.

“What did you just say?” John asked in a dangerously quiet voice.

“You heard me.” Sam said turning around.

“Yeah. You left. Your brother, sister, and me, we needed you. You walked away, Sam! You walked away!” John yelled shoving Sam’s chest.

“Stop it! Both of you!” Dakota pleaded.

“You’re the one who said ‘don’t come back’, Dad. You closed that door, not me! You were just pissed because you couldn’t control me anymore.” Sam screamed.

“Stop it!” Dean yelled and Dakota tried to grab a hold of Sam, but Dean shoved her back and got right in between John and Sam, putting his hands of their dad’s chest so he couldn’t get to Sam and Dakota.

Sam and John stomped off to their cars leaving Dean and Dakota standing in the road.

“Terrific.” Dean said sarcastically.

“I love our family meetings.” Dakota sassed.


	38. Dead Man's Blood Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a reference to a show in here that I know didn’t start until 2011 and this is in 2005, but it’s an AU and I like it!

It had been 24 hours since their Dad had woken them up after three hours of sleep to go to the crime scene and they had been taking turns napping in the back of the Impala and Dakota thought she might collapse the minute the adrenaline wore off. They had all cooled down after a few hours of driving and were now back together in front of an old barn were the vampire’s nest was and Dakota had spent the whole drive with her headphones in trying to drown out the tension and forget the fight that just happened. They parked the Impala and the truck a safe distance away and hid behind some bushes and they saw two walk out in the sunlight without bursting into flames, or looking like they were in extreme pain.

“So they really aren’t afraid of sunlight?” Dean asked as they saw two vampires walk into the barn in the sunlight.

“No, direct sunlight hurts like a nasty sunburn. The only way to kill them is by beheading. And yeah, they sleep during the day, doesn’t mean they won’t wake up.” John explained.

“So I guess walking right in is not our best option.” Dakota joked.

“Actually, that’s the plan.” John said and Dakota whipped her head around to look at him, but he was already heading over to his truck. She turned to look at her brothers who both looked equally as confused. They stood up and walked over to the trunk of the Impala.

“Do we even have enough machetes?” Dakota asked quietly and Dean shrugged his shoulders, popping the trunk and digging around.

“Got ‘em.” Dean said holding up three machetes and sheaths that tied around their waist.

“So, you three really wanna know about this colt?” John asked and Dakota turned to see him bracing himself on the side of the tuck and hanging his head.

“Yes, sir.” All three answered.

“It’s just a story, a legend really. Well, I thought it was. Never really believed it until I read Daniel’s letter. Back in 1835, when Halley’s Comet was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo, they say Samuel Colt made a gun, a special gun. He made it for a hunter, a man like us, only on horseback. The story goes he made thirteen bullets and this hunter used the gun half a dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. Somehow, Daniel got his hands on it. They say…they say this gun can kill anything.” John said.

“Kill anything like supernatural anything?” Dean asked.

“Like the demon.” Dakota realized.

“Yeah, like the demon.” John agreed. “Ever since I picked up it’s trail, I’ve been looking for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun, we may have it.” John explained.

They quickly made their way over to the barn and opened one of the windows, climbing through and landing quietly on a pile of hay. Dakota, Sam, and Dean started walking towards the hammocks hanging in the middle of the barn and peeked in at each sleeping vampire to see if they had the colt.

“Dean. Kota.” Sam whispered and Dakota followed Sam’s voice to one of the posts that had a young woman tied to it, if Dakota had to guess she’d say the woman who went missing the other morning.

Muffled cries sounded behind them and Dakota walked towards one of the barn stalls and peered in. Inside were more people tied up and waiting to be the vampire’s meal.

“Guys!” She called their attention. Dean came over to help her.

“I don’t think we can pick this lock.” Dean said holding up the strange looking padlock on the door.

“Do you think you can pop the hinges?” Dakota asked. Dean looked around and spotted

some kind of hook lying on the floor. He pried the first hinge off of the door making as little noise as possible. Dakota looked over at Sam who had finished untying the girl and saw that she was starting to wake up. As she did she let out a bloodcurdling scream, waking up all the vampires.

Everything froze for a moment and Dakota whispered, “Shit.” before all Hell broke loose.

“Kids, run!” Their dad called from one of the rooms in the barn and Dakota took off towards the front doors of the barn as the vampires began climbing out of their hammocks and running after them. They threw the barn doors open and left them that way, hoping the bright sunlight would at least slow the vampires down as they sprinted across the wide open field to where their cars were. Dakota stopped and put her hands on her knees, catching her breath once they reached the Impala.

“Dad?” Dean asked. Dakota looked up and that no one had followed them, not the vampires, but also not their dad. Dakota scanned the trees for any sign of him and finally saw some of the trees and bushes rustle before their dad bust through.

“They won’t follow. They’ll wait till night. Once a vampire gets your scent it’s for life. ” He panted.

“So what now?” Dakota asked.

“You find the nearest funeral home.” John said. Dakota, Sam, and Dean looked at each other in shock.

……….

“It shouldn’t be taking this long. I should go help.” Sam said pacing around the room. Dakota was curled up on the couch watching TV while John was flipping through his journal and notes.

“Dean’s got it.” John said, but Sam continued pacing.

“I’m gonna grab a soda.” Sam said and Dakota turned away from the show to watch Sam walk out of the room and her dad come sit down on the couch next to her.

“What are you watching?” John asked as he sat down next to Dakota on the couch.

“The Walking Dead.” Dakota responded not taking her eyes away from the scene playing out on the TV.

Her dad scoffed, “Really?”

“Yes ‘really’, What? You don’t like it?” She asked confused.

“Not really.” He replied.

Dakota paused the show and looked at her dad, “How can you not like The Walking Dead?” She asked in an offended tone.

“I don’t know. The story line is fine I just have always hated what a push over Rick is. And he has no character development.” John argued. “Also I hate that Glenn kid. I don’t know what it is.”

“Okay! First off: You can’t expect Rick to have a 180 character development in one season, that’s just not realistic! And second: what could you possibly have against Glenn?” Dakota snapped.

“Look. All I’m sayin’ is if I’d been there, things would have gone down a little differently.” John said holding his hands up in surrender. Dakota scoffed and pressed play on the remote just in time for Sam to walk back into the room, causing her to pause the show again with a sigh.

“Come here Sam. I wanna talk to you two.” John said. Dakota and John remained on the couch while Sam sat of the coffee table.

“I don’t know if I ever told you this, but the day you two were born I put $100 dollars in a saving account for each of you, did the same for your brother. It was a college fund. And every month I’d add another $100 to it. After your mother passed, all I saw was the evil in the world and all I cared about was keeping you three alive. I wanted to make sure you were prepared…ready. So somewhere along the way I stopped being your father and started being your drill sergeant. So, Sammy, when you said you wanted to go to school, all I could think about, my only thought, was that you were gonna be alone…vulnerable. Sammy, I just…it never occurred to me what you wanted. I just couldn’t accept the fact that, you and me we’re just different.” John told them. Dakota laughed through the tears in her eyes causing both her dad and brother to look at her.

“I don’t think you two are different at all.” She said and John wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“Not any more. With what happened to Mom and Jess, we probably have a lot more in common than just about anyone.” Sam said.

“I guess you’re right, son.” John smiled. Dakota could feel how genuine her dad was being and she could also tell how touched Sam was, although that was from being his twin, not being an empath.

“Hey Dad? Whatever happened to that college fund?” Sam asked.

“I spent it on ammo.” John said with a breathy laugh and both Dakota and Sam laughed along with him until Dean walked in the door.

“Man! That is some heavy security to protect a bunch of dead guys.” Dean said.

“Did you get it?” Dakota asked. Dean didn’t answer, just pulled out a brown paper bag which he pulled a bottle full of blood out.

“You know what to do.” John said and they broke up.

……….

Dean was pretending that the Impala was broken down while Dakota and Sam waited in the trees with bows and dead-man’s-blood tipped arrows. She saw the female vampire grab Dean and started kissing him. She aimed her crossbow at the male vampire who was flanking the woman and waited until they were both a safe distance from Dean before firing her arrow straight into his chest then she, Sam, and John ran out of the trees and onto the road.

“Barely even stings.” The girl sassed.

“Give it time sweetheart. That arrow’s soaked in dead man’s blood. It’s like poison to you isn’t it?” John asked as the girl passed out. “Load her up. Sam and I’ll take care of this one.”

Dean picked the girl up and Dakota followed behind as they walked over to where the truck was parked and started the as was planned. John and Sam pulled up in the Impala a while later and their dad started giving them directions.

“Toss that in the fire, it’s saffron, skunks, cabbage, and trillium. It’ll lock our scent and her’s until we’re ready.” John said handing it to Dean.

“This stuff stinks.” He commented.

“Well, that’s the idea. Dust your clothes with the ashes and you’ll stand a chance of not being detected.” John said.

“Are you sure they’ll come after her?” Dakota asked.

“Yeah, vampires mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun. But the blood sickness is going to wear off soon, so you don’t have a lot of time. Half-an-hour might do it. Then I want you out of the area as fast as you can.” John explained.

“But…” Sam started to argue.

“You can’t take on all of them on your own.” Dean objected.

“I’ll have her and the colt.” John said.

“But after, we’re gonna meet up, right?” Dakota asked.

John looked at the ground, “Use the gun together, right?” Sam asked.

Their dad continued to look down and Sam looked furious, “You’re leaving again aren’t you? You still wanna go after the demon alone? You know, I don’t get you. You can’t treat us like this.” Sam said and Dakota crossed her arms over her chested feeling pissed off at her dad.

“Like what?” John barked.

“Like children.” Sam yelled.

“You are my children. I’m trying to keep you safe.” Their dad said.

“With all due respect Dad, that’s a bunch of crap.” Dean said and Dakota thought her eyes might bug right off of her head. She had never heard Dean talk to their dad like that. She suddenly felt a strong wave of anger and confusion coming from her dad.

“Excuse me?” John asked.

“You know what Sammy, Kota, and I have been hunting. Hell, you’ve sent us on a few hunting trips yourself. You can’t be that worried about keeping us safe.” Dean sassed.

“It’s not the same thing, Dean.” John said calmly.

“Then what is it? Why do you want us out of the big fight” Dakota asked putting her hands on her hips.

“This demon, it’s a bad son of a bitch. I can’t make the same moves if I’m worried about keeping you alive.” John explained.

“You can’t be as reckless, you mean.” Dakota corrected.

“Look, I don’t expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. Your mother’s death…it almost killed me.” John said and his eyes started watering up causing Dakota’s to water. “I can’t watch my children die, too. I won’t.”

“What happens if you die? Dad, what happens if you die and we could have done something about it? Ya know, I’ve been thinking maybe Sammy’s right on this one” Dean asked.

“We should do this together.” Dakota said and she saw Sam nod out of the corner of her eye.

“We’re stronger as a family, Dad. We just are. You know it.” Dean said.

John looked down for a moment and said, ‘We’re running out of time. Do your job and get out of the area. That’s an order.” He snapped before walking towards his car. Dakota walked over to the Impala and climbed in back, slamming the door behind her. Normally she would never disrespect Baby like that and if she did Dean would have her head, but tensions were too high right now to be angry about a car door. They drove back to the barn in silence and quietly snuck back in through the window. There was only one vampire left at the barn, the others out looking for their two missing people. Dean walked up behind the vampire and cut it’s head out without any hesitation. Dakota ran straight over to the other prisoners they had left earlier and pulled the lock pick set out of her pocket and undid the padlock now that they had more time. They untied everyone and brought them out to the main road, making sure they knew what happened and the way back into town.

Dean started walking towards the Impala and called out over his shoulder, “C’mon. We’re going after Dad.”

“”Yes.” Dakota said practically running to the car. They drove as fast as they could to where they knew their dad was trying to led the vampires and parked the car in the woods, grabbing the three crossbow and the blood soaked arrows. When they made it to where the truck and the vampires car were parked, Dakota saw her dad on the ground surrounded by shattered glass and the gun lying on the floor. Dean and Sm started firing arrows and Dakota saw her chance to get the gun. She ran as fast as she could, then slid on the road on her knees, ripping her jeans and cutting her leg, to get the gun. The moment she put her hand on it another hand reached out and grabbed hers, on instinct she reached for her knife before she realized it was her dad’s hand. She looked at and he pried the gun from her hands, she turned around on her knees and saw that the leader had Sam in a choke hold and Dean was lowering the blade to the ground.

“Hey asshole!” Dakota called and the leader turned around, now holding Sam at an awkward angle and leaving him open to a shot. John fired the gun and Dakota watched the bullet enter the vampire’s head, turning the skin around the gunshot black immediately. The vampire dropped to the ground, dead and the remaining two vampires ran to their car and climbed in, driving away.

……….

They were back in the motel room packing everything up and Dakota couldn’t wait to get in the car and sleep for hours.

“So…” John started.

“Yes. sir?” They all asked at the same time.

“You ignored a direct order back there.” John said.

“Yes, sir.” They all repeated in unison.

“But we also saved your ass.” Dean sassed and Dakota looked over at him in shock and saw that Sam was doing the same thing. Dakota held her breath as she waited for them to get lectured.

“You’re right.” John agreed.

“I am?” Dean asked sounding genuinely  confused.

“It scares the Hell out of me. You three are all I got. But I guess we’re stronger as a family. So we go after this damn thing…together.” John said.


	39. Salvation Part 1

Dakota walked into the motel room her, her brothers, and her dad were staying in and almost dropped the tray of coffee she was carrying when she saw almost every square inch of the walls covered in information about the demon.

“…Wow.” She said setting the coffees down.

“So this is it. This is everything I know.. Look, our whole lives we’ve been searching for this demon, right? Not a trace, just nothing, until about a year ago. For the first time I picked up a trail.” John explained sitting at the kitchen table with Dean pacing the room and Sam sitting across from him.

“That’s when I took off.” Dean said and their dad nodded.

“Yeah, the demon must have come out of hiding or hibernation or something.” John said.

“Do demons hibernate?” Dakota asked as she sat down on the low dresser across from the beds, but her question was overlooked.

“Alright, so what’s this trail you found?” Dean asked.

“It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, California. Houses burn down to the ground. It’s going after families, just like it went after us.” Their dad said.

“Families with infants?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, the night of the kid’s six month birthday.” John said.

“We were six months old that night?” Dakota asked, she had never really thought about it before.

“Exactly six months.” John confirmed.

“So, basically this demon is going after these kids for some reason, same way it came for Kota and me?” Sam asked.

“So, Mom’s death, Jessica’s death…that’s cause of us?” Dakota asked feeling her eyes well up.

“Calm down guys, we don’t know that.” Dean said.

“Oh really! Cause I’d say we’re pretty damn sure, Dean!” Sam said.

“For the last time, what happened to them is not your fault.” Dean said.

“Yeah, you’re right. But it is my problem.” Sam yelled.

“No, it’s not _your_ problem. It’s _our_ problem!” Dean argued

“Will you two knock it off!?” Dakota shouted holding her head as it started pounding.

“Okay, that’s enough you three.” John said standing up and they all stopped.

“So why’s it doing it? What does it want?” Dakota asked not seeing the appeal in going after infants and killing their parents in fires.

“I wish I had more answers, I do. But I’ve always been one step behind it. Look, I’ve never gotten there in time to save…” John drifted off and Dakota knew he was thinking about their mom. She reached up and held the ring that was hanging around her neck.

“Alright, so how do we find this thing before it hits again?” Dean asked walking over to look through some papers on the dresser.

“There are signs. It took me a while to see the pattern, but in the days before these fires signs crop up in the area. Cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms…And then I went back and checked and…” John trailed off.

“These things happened in Lawrence.” Dean concluded.

Their dad nodded, “The week before your mother died.” Then he looked over at Sam, “And in Palo Alto before Jessica. And these signs, they’re starting again.

“Where?” Sam and Dakota asked.

“Salvation, Iowa.” John answered.

……….

They drove to Salvation as fast as they could with Sam, Dean, and Dakota in the Impala and John in his truck. As soon as they crossed the town line, john pulled the truck off the road and onto a dirt road leading through some trees.

Dakota climbed out of the car and leaned on the door, “What is it?” She asked.

“Son of a bitch!” her dad yelled hitting the side of his car before turning to look at them, “I just got a call from Caleb.”

“Is he okay?” Dean asked. Caleb had been a hunting partner with their dad every once in awhile, Dakota didn’t know him very well since he was always on the road and she didn’t learn about monsters until she was eight, but she had grown to know him in her late teens.

“He’s fine. Jim Murphy’s dead.” John said and Dakota felt shocked, she knew Pastor Jim very well. When her dad first got into hunting he didn’t know what he was doing until he found Bobby and Caleb and when he started fighting demons they had pointed him to Pastor Jim an ex-hunter turned priest. John had left Dakota and her brothers in his care many times, he lived in a big house by the church that had a small farm attached to it which had helped foster Dakota’s love of animals.

“Pastor Jim? How?” Sam asked.

“Throat was slashed. He bled out. Caleb says they found traces of sulfur at Jim’s place.

“A demon?” Dean asked and John nodded.

“ _The_ demon?” Dakota asked.

“I don’t know. Could be he just got careless and slipped up. Maybe the demon knows we’re getting close.” John said.

“What do you want to do?” Dean asked.

“Now, we act like every second counts. There’s two hundred hospitals and a health center in this county. We split up and cover more ground. I want records. I want a list of every infant that’s going to be six months old in the next week.” Their dad demanded.

“Dad, that could be dozens of kids.” Sam pointed out.

“How are we going to know which one’s the right one?” Dakota asked.

“We’ll check them all. That’s how.” John said then he looked at Sam, “You got any better ideas.”

“No, sir.” He muttered.

John leaned against his truck and sighed, “Dad?” Dakota asked timidly before getting hit with a wave of sadness.

“It’s just Jim. He was…This ends know. I’m ending it. I don’t care what it takes.” He vowed before getting into his truck.

……….

Dakota was walking out of the hospital she had been assigned with six names of kids turning six months old this week. Suddenly her head started pounding more than it ever had before and she grabbed it and took a few deep breaths, but the pain only got more intense turning white hot and causing her to drop to her knees. It finally started to ebb enough that she could stand again and she started walking back to the motel, she pulled out her phone to call Sam just as he called her.

“Sammy my head is killing me.” She whimpered down the line.

“Mine too. I just had a vision I know who the kid is. We need to meet Dad and Dean at the motel now!” He said before hanging up.

They met back at the motel and had their dad and Dean sit on the beds while they pulled up chairs to sit in and explain what was going on. Sam had his hand on his forehead and his eyes screwed shut while Dakota was curled up in a ball in an extreme amount of pain.

“A vision?” John asked once they explained the powers that had shown up over the last year and what was currently happening.

“Yes. I saw the demon burning a woman on the ceiling.” Sam explained.

“And you think it’s gonna to happen to this woman you met because?” John led.

“Because these things happen exactly the way I see them.” Sam explained.

“It’s true.” Dakota mumbled.

“It started out as nightmares, but then they started happening when he was awake. Kota used to only be in tune with my emotions and people she was emotionally close to or physically standing near, but now it’s everyone in a room. She can’t feel Sammy and Sammy never has visions about Kota.” Dean explained getting up and walking towards the kitchen sink.

“It’s like the closer I get to anything involving the demon, the stronger the visions get.” Sam said.

“At least you are constantly having vision. I would give anything to not have to feel people’s emotions all the time.” Dakota complained.

“Alright, when were you going to tell me about this?” John asked.

“We didn’t know what it meant.” Dean justified.

“Something like this starts happening to your brother and sister, you pick up the phone and you call me!” John said.

Dean swung around to look at their dad and Dakota’s head ache started getting worse as she felt her dad and brothers emotions and she groaned, “Call you? Are you kidding me? Dad, I called you from Lawrence, alright? Sam called you when I was dying. I mean, getting you on the phone I got a better chance of winning the lottery.”

Everyone was silent before John nodded and said, “You’re right. Although I’m not crazy about this new tone of yours, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

Dakota felt a lips twitch into a smile, “Look guys, visions or no visions, the fact is we know the demon is coming tonight.” Sam said.

“And this family is going to go through the same Hell we went through.” Dakota commented.

“No they’re not. No one is, ever again.” John promised.

Sam’s phone started ringing and everyone was quiet so he could answer it, “Hello…who is this? Meg, last time I saw you, you fell out of a window.” Sam said looking over at Dean who was handing Dakota a glass of water, “…just your feelings? That was a seven story drop…My Dad, I don’t know where my dad is.” Sam said, but John stood up and walked over to grabbed the phone.

“This is John…” Their dad said then he was silent for a while as Meg talked and he hung his head halfway through, Dakota was willing to bet she had something to do with Pastor Jim’s death. “I’m here…Caleb?” John asked and Dakota shot up as she heard that Meg might have another of their close family friends. “You listen to me, he’s got nothing to do with anything. You let him go…I don’t know what you’re talking about…Caleb? Caleb!…I’m gonna kill you, ya know that?…Okay…I said okay, I’ll bring you the Colt…It’s gonna take me a day’s drive to get there…That’s impossible. I can’t get there in time, and I can’t just carry a gun on the plane…” John slammed the phone down on the table.

“Caleb?” Dakota asked timidly and John shook his head.

“I need to give Meg the Colt in a warehouse in Lincoln by midnight tonight.” John explained then talked about this theory about Meg.

“So you think Meg is a demon?” Sam asked.

“Either that or she’s possessed by one. It doesn’t really matter.” John said.

“So what do we do?” Dean asked.

“I’m going to Lincoln.” Their dad said.

“What?” Dakota asked in shock.

“It doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice. If I don’t go, a lot of people die. Our friends die.” John bit out.

“The demon is coming tonight for Monica and her family. The gun is all we got. We can’t just hand it over.” Sam argued.

“Who said anything about handing it over? Look, besides us and a couple vampires, no one’s really seen the gun. No one knows what it looks like.” Their dad said.

“You’re just gonna pick up a ringer at the pawn shop?” Dakota asked sarcastically.

“An antique store.” John said deadpan.

“You’re gonna hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn’t notice?” Dean nearly yelled.

“Look, as long as it’s close, she shouldn’t be able to tell the difference.” John said.

“Yeah, but for how long? What happens when she figures it out?” Dean asked.

“I just…I just need to buy a few hours, that’s all.” Their dad muttered.

“You mean for me, Kota, and Dean. You want us to stay here and kill the demon by ourselves.” Sam said and Dakota looked over and saw he had tears in his eyes.

“No, Sam. I want to stop losing the people we love. I want you to go to school. I want Dakota to have a life. I want Dean to have a home.” John said pacing the room and facing away from them and gave a small sob, “I want Mary to be alive. I just want this to be over.” He begged. Dakota looked over at her brothers and saw that they looked on the verge of tears same as her. They looked back at their dad and nodded.


	40. Salvation Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very short because the next two will be long. Still don’t have a title for book two (AKA season two) if you have any suggestions please let me know.

Dakota got into the Impala which was parked outside of an antique store after buying an antique gun. Dean shifted the park into drive and they headed to meet Sam and John on a back road where their dad was parking up the car to drive to Lincoln.

“Did you get it?” John asked.

Dakota reached into the inside pocket of her jean jacket and pulled out the gun that was in a brown paper bag.

“You know this is a trap, don’t you?” Dakota asked. “That’s why Meg wants you to come alone.”

“I can handle her. I got a whole arsenal loaded-holy water, mandaic amulets.” John said.

“Dad, just promise me something. This thing goes south, just get the Hell out. Don’t get yourself, alright? You’re no good to us dead.” Dean said.

“Same goes for you.” Their dad said, but Dakota noticed that they didn’t really promise, “Alright listen to me. They made the bullets special for this colt. There’s only four of them left and without them the gun is useless. You make every shot count.”

“Yes, sir.” They all muttered.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this fight. Now it’s here and I’m not gonna be in it. It’s up to you three now. It’s your fight, you finish this, you finish what I started. You understand?” John said. It was silent except for a few birds squawking in the distance.

Their dad handed the gun over and Sam said, “We’ll see you soon.” and John walked over the truck and drove away. Dakota leaned back on the trunk of the Impala and watched her dad disappear again.

They drove off and parked in front of Monica’s house and waited for night to fall. Dakota had always hated stake outs, they were so slow and boring. Once dark fell they started discussing how to get the family out of the house.

“Maybe we can tell them there’s a gas leak.” Sam suggested.

“And how many times has that actually worked for us?” Dean asked.

“Even if they went to a hotel, how do we know the demon won’t find them?” Dakota pointed out looking at the two story house across the street.

“Could just tell them the truth.” Sam said seriously before they all burst out laughing. “Just, with what’s coming for these people…”

“Sam, we only got one move, and you know it, alright?” Dean reminded them.

“We got to wait for this demon to show itself, and then we get it before it gets them. We only have four bullets.” Dakota said.

“I wonder how Dad’s doing.” Sam said.

“I’d feel a lot better if we were backing him up.” Dean said.

“And I’d feel a lot better if we was here backing us up.” Dakota said still staring at the nursery window and watching Monica’s husband draw the curtains.

“This is weird.” Sam said and Dakota nodded.

“What?” Dean asked.

“It’s like…after all these years, we’re finally here. It doesn’t seem real.” Sam said.

“The magic gun was definitely a surprise. I guess I’m just wondering what we do after this.” Dakota mussed.

“We just got to keep our heads and do our job like always.” Dean said.

“Yeah, but this isn’t like always.” Sam said.

“True.” Dakota said.

“Hey Dean, Kota. I want to thank you.” Sam said.

“For what?” They asked together.

“For everything. You’ve always had my back, ya know? Even when I couldn’t count on anyone, I could always count on you two. And now…I don’t know. I just wanted you to know, just in case.” Sam said.

“Woah. Woah. Woah.” Dakota said stopping Sam.

“Are you kidding me?” Dean asked angrily. “Don’t say just in case something happens to you. I don’t want to hear that freakin’ speech, man! Nobody’s dying tonight. Not us, not that family, not anybody!” Dean snapped.

“Just that demon.” Dakota pointed out and Dean shot her a glare and she held her hands up in surrender. “That evil son of a bitch isn’t getting any older than tonight.” She promised hoping she hadn’t just jinxed their chances.

Dean pulled his phone out and called their dad, trying to figure out how the trade was going, but he didn’t answer.

“Dad’s not answering.” Dean said worriedly.

“Maybe Meg was late.” Sam suggested.

“Not likely, but maybe the cell reception’s bad…” Dakota trailed off and stared at the radio which had been quietly playing music. Suddenly she was thrown back to just outside of Stanford when this had happened to their radio and the lights had flickered.

“What is it?” Dean asked.

“Listen.” She said pointing to the radio. Dean fiddled with the radio knob, but every station was static. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped even in the car and leaves swirled around the street as the lights on the dashboard and on the street began to flicker. Dakota looked over and saw that the lights inside the house began to flicker and she got out of the car and held onto the door.

“It’s coming.” Sam said jumping out of the car. They ran across the street to the house and Dakota bent down and quickly undid the locks on the front door and pushed it open. Luckily, there was no alarm or if there was it wasn’t set to go off making it easier to sneak in.

“Get out of my house!” A man’s voice screamed and Dakota ducked as a man came out of nowhere with a baseball bat and swung it at her.

“Mr. Holt, please, we’re trying to help you.” Sam begged.

“Charlie? Is everything okay down there?” A woman, Monica Dakota assumed, yelled from upstairs.

“Monica, get the baby!” Charlie screamed.

“No! Don’t go in the nursery!” I cried as Sam and I flew up the stairs as Dean fought a baseball bat wielding Charlie.

When Dakota ran into the bedroom she saw Monica pinned against the wall and a shadowy figure standing next to crib and she froze in place. She had been training for this moment, imagining it for her entire life and she was too scared to move. Sam ran into her back which spurred her into action. Sam had the gun so she ran forward and grabbed the baby, but suddenly she frozen in place, this time not by free but physically frozen. She looked over at the shadowy demon and saw a terrifying pair of yellow eyes staring back at her. Those were the eyes that haunted her nightmares, the eyes she saw every night when she closed her eyes, those were the eyes of the thing that killed her mother. She narrowed her eyes and put every ounce of anger and hatred into the stare she shot at him.

Sam shot it and it disappeared and Dakota was free.“Where the Hell did it go?” She shouted.

“My baby!” Monica screamed as Sam dragged her out of the room as Dean ran into the door.

“You got her?” Dean asked as he wrapped an arm around her and lead her towards the door. Dakota reached into the crib and grabbed the little girl’s blanket and as soon as her hand was out the crib burst into flames and Dakota shielded her face. She smelt burning hair and realized a few strands of hair on her head and arm were now singed. Dean and Dakota rushed down the stairs and out the front door reaching the grass just as the windows of the nursery exploded violently nearly knocking Dakota over. She wobbled over to Monica and Charlie and handed them their baby girl.

Dakota looked up at the burning curtains billowing in the broken window and saw the demons outline.

“It’s still there.” She whispered.

“It’s still there!” Sam yelled charging forward.

“Sam! No!” She yelled planting herself in front of him. Sam reached under her armpits and picked her up, moving her to the side before running forward.

Dean nearly tackled him from behind, “Dean, let me go! It’s still in there!”

“Sammy, the place is burning to the ground! It’s suicide!” Dakota cried.

“I don’t care!” Sam argued.

“I do!” Dean yelled. They all turned back to the window and watched the demon disappear in the fire and smoke engulfing the house.

“Guess this means another twenty two years.” Dakota muttered. Her ears perked up as she sirens coming from around the corner of the street, “Um…guys?”

Dean turned to the Holt family, “We were never here. There was an electrical shortage in the nursery.” He said and Monica and Charlie nodded. Dakota ran over to the Impala and threw herself in the backseat before they took off towards their motel in complete silence. Dakota felt foolish for really thinking that this could be over tonight, that her family could stop hunting and move on with their lives. She could go to school, but not for mythology and lore like she originally applied for, but for music so she could study, and write, and sing like she had always wanted to. Instead they were all still trapped the world of monsters with the thing that killed their mother on the loose and one less bullet to use on it. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the tense silence in the car as they pulled up to their motel.

Dakota walked into the bathroom as soon as they arrived and sat down on the floor and cried silently. She was so mad at herself for getting er hopes up, at Sam for missing the shot, at John for not being here, and the demon for killing her mother, and at the world for the shitty hand she had been dealt in life. Every time she closed her eyes she saw those evil yellow ones staring back at her and she wanted to scream. One of her brothers knocked on the door so she quickly splashed cold water on her face to calm the redness down and kept her eyes trained on the ground as she walked out of the bedroom and sat down on the couch. She noticed that Dean wasn’t in the room and decided he must have gone off to break something or scream like he normally did when he was upset.

Sam came out a minute later and sat on a bed as Dean enter the room and pulled his phone out.

“Come on, Dad. Answer your phone, damn it..” Dean muttered as he paced. Dakota stood up and went to sit next to her twin who looked as equally miserable a she was and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Something’s wrong.” Dean said as he hung up the phone.

“A lot of things are wrong.” Dakota commented.

“Sam, you hearing us? Something’s happened.” Dean said.

“If you had just let me go in there, I could have ended all this.” Sam said darkly.

“Sam, the only thing you would have ended was your life.” Dean said.

“You don’t know that.” Sam said.

“So, what? You’re just willing to sacrifice yourself?” Dean asked. Dakota turned her head back and forth, watching her brothers fighting. Her head began pounding as she felt Dean’s anger. Then she got an idea, she had never tried it before, but maybe if she focused on her dad she could feel his emotions and know if he was okay.

“Yeah. You’re damn right I am.” Sam said standing up.

“Well that’s not gonna happen as long as I’m around.” Dean promised. Dakota tried to block out their voices and emotions and focus on her dad, but it was difficult with the standoff going on in front of her.

“What the Hell are you talking about, Dean? We’ve been searching for this demon our whole lives. It’s the only thing we’ve ever cared about.”

“Sam, I want to waste it too, I do. But it’s not worth dying over.” Dean said.

“Shut up.” Dakota muttered breaking her concentration and feeling herself heat up with rage. She hated when they fought, she hated feeling like it was her job to be calm and rational when she was pissed too.

“If hunting this demon means you get yourself killed then I hope we never find the damn thing.” Dean yelled.

“Please shut up.” Dakota begged holding her head in pain

“That thing killed Jess. That thing killed Mom.” Sam said and Dean opened his mouth to respond, but Dakota beat him to it.

“SHUT UP! You’re killing my head! Just shut up! They’re dead, they are never coming back and it’s not worth fighting over!” Dakota screamed.

Sam glared at her before grabbing her and pinning against the wall, Dakota’s head smacked the wall and she shook it to try to clear her head. She looked over at Dean who was standing there in shock, Sam had never laid a hand on her before.

“Don’t you say that! Don’t you! Not after all this, don’t you say that.” Sam yelled.

“Sam put her down!” Dean bellowed and Dean dropped her back to the ground, Dakota scrambled away, over to Dean who wrapped her up. “You okay Baby Girl.” He asked and Dakota nodded, “Sam, look, the four of us…that’s all we have. That’s all I have. Sometimes I feel like I’m barely holding it together, man. Without you, Kota, and Dad I…” Dean trailed off.

“Dad.” Sam said, “He should have called by now. Try him again.”

“I was trying to find him.” Dakota said.

“Find him how?” The boys asked.

“Well, normally my X-Man powers only work on people I know well or people close to me, I’ve never tried it long distance, but I thought I might be able to reach Dad since he’s my dad. But it was strange, he’s alive, but he’s not feeling anything.” Dakota explained.

“See if you can’t try again.” Dean said pulling out his phone.

Dean put the phone on speaker as someone answered, “You three really screwed up this time.” Meg’s voice said.

“Where is he?” Dean asked.

“You’re never going to see your father again.” Meg promised before hanging up.


	41. Devil's Trap Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Fight the Good Fight" by Triumph.

_Previously:Dean put the phone on speaker as someone answered, “You three really screwed up this time.” Meg’s voice said._

_“Where is he?” Dean asked._

_“You’re never going to see your father again.” Meg promised before hanging up._

……….

“Meg’s got Dad.” Dean said as he slammed the phone shut and started pacing. Dakota would have pointed out the fact that they knew that since the phone was on speaker, but was too upset to give a good comeback.

“Okay. Okay.” She said trying to think and calm herself down. Dean walked over to the dresser and grabbed the Colt, tucking it into his jeans and started packing.

“What are you doing, Dean?” Sam asked.

“We’re gotta go.” Dean said and Dakota walked over to her bed and grabbed her bag.

“Why?” Sam asked.

“The demon knows we’re in Salvation for one.” Dakota pointed out as she slipped into her jacket.

“And it knows we have the Colt. It’s got Dad and it’s probably coming for us next.” Dean added.

“Good, we’ve still got three bullets left.” Sam said.

“Yeah and we should strategize using them and not rush into.” Dakota argued.

“We’ve still got a shot!” Sam said.

“Listen, tough guy, we’re not ready. We don’t know how many of them are out there! We’re no good to many body dead! We’re leaving...now!” Dean snapped as he walked to the door.

“Wait! Where are we going?” Dakota asked as she walked out the door after him.

Once they were all in the Impala, Dean gunned it and started putting Salvation behind them, heading nowhere in particular. Sam was still pouting in the front seat about not staying and fighting the demon.

“I’m telling you guys, we could’ve taken him.” Sam grumbled.

“Be smart about this, Sammy. We need a plan.” Dakota said.

“They’re keeping Dad alive. We gotta figure out where. They’re gonna wanna trade him for the gun.” Dean said.

“But if that were true why didn’t Meg mention a trade.” Sam whispered.

“Shut up, Sam! Don’t say that crap!” snapped.

“I don’t want to believe it many more than you, but if he is, all the more reason to kill the damn thing. We still have the Colt. We can still finish the job.” Sam argued.

“Screw the job, Sam!” Dean yelled.

“Dean, I’m trying to do what we would want. He would want us to keep going.” Sam said.

“Will you stop talking about him like he’s dead. We aren’t going after yellow eyes, okay? End of story! We need to figure out what the Hell are plan is first!” Dakota argued.

“Yellow eyes?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, that’s what color his eyes are. Normal demon eyes are black. I figured it was better than continuously saying ‘it’ or ‘the demon’.” Dakota explained.

“So how do we find Dad?” Sam asked after a moment of quiet.

“Maybe we go to Lincoln. Start at the warehouse where he was taken.” Dean suggested.

“C’mon Dean. You really think the demons are going to leave a trail?” Sam asked.

Dean nodded, “You’re right. We need help.” He took the next exit heading north.

……….

When they finally pulled into Singer Auto Salvage Yard the sun had already been up for a few hours. Dakota got off of the car and stretched before walking up to the front porch with a bounce in her step, it had been almost three years since the last time she had been to what she would consider her childhood home. She saw Bobby’s mastiff, Rumsfeld, sunbathing on an old beat up pickup truck and scratched his ears as she went by.

Bobby opened the door and immediately handed her a flask we she took a sip of before passing it to her brothers. Standard practice before entering the Singer household: sip Holy water from a flask then you can have whiskey from a flask. Once Dakota paced the flack Bobby scooped her up in a hug.

“Good ta see ye, Darlin’ been too long. These two lookin’ after ya? You three lookin’ out for each other?” He asked as he hugged Sam and Dean.

“Of course, Bobby.” Dean promised as he walked into the house. Dakota went straight to the livingroom and flopped down on the old sunk in couch.

Once they explained everything that happened Sam hit the books, looking for anything that might help while Dean, Dakota, and Bobby caught up in the kitchen.

“Thank you, Bobby. For everything. To tell you the truth I wasn’t sure if we should come.” Dean said and Dakota remember the ugly fight that had happened last time they were here.

“Nonsense. You’re daddy needs help.” Booby said shrugging it off.

“Well, yeah, but last time we saw you, you did threaten to blast him full of buckshot. You cocked the shotgun and everything.” Dakota pointed out.

“Yeah, well, what can I say. John just has that effect on people. Serve him right for disowning Sam.” Bobby said and he shot Dakota a pointed look. Bobby was the only one who knew about her acceptance letter from Kansas State.

“Yeah, I guess he does.” Dean agreed.

“None of that matters now. All that matters is that you get him back.” Bobby said.

“Bobby this book, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Sam chuckled and they all went into the livingroom.

“Key of Solomon? It’s the real deal, alright.” Bobby said sitting on the desk. Dakota walked behind Sam so she could see what in the book had him so fascinated.

“And these protective circles, they really work?” Sam asked.

“Hell ya. You get a demon in one, they’re trapped. Powerless. It’s like a satanic roach motel.” Bobby explained and both Dakota and Sam chuckled at that description.

“The man knows his stuff.” Dean commented walking towards them and away from the bookshelf he had been examining.

“I’ll tell you something else, too. This is some serious crap you three stepped in.” Bobby said.

“How’s that?” Dakota asked leaning back on the wall behind her.

“Normal year, I hear, say, three demonic possessions, maybe four, tops. This year, I heard of 27 so far. You get what I’m sayin’? More and more demons are walking among us-a lot more.”

“Do you know why?” Sam asked.

“No, but I know it’s something big. Storm’s coming and you three and your Daddy-you’re smack dab in the middle of it.” Bobby explained. Rumsfeld started barking and growling at something outside and Dakota, Dean, and Bobby raced to see what it was when the front door got kicked in, revealing a very angry Meg with Rumsfeld hot on her heels. He ran over to Bobby and stood guard with his hackles up as the demon approached.

“No more crap, okay?” Meg said and Dakota saw Dean pull the flask of Holy Water out of his pocket out of the corner of her eye, and apparently so did Meg because Dean was suddenly lifted into the air and thrown across the room into a stack of books. Meg turned her eyes back to Sam and Dakota and took a step forward.

“I want the Colt. The real Colt. Right now.” Meg demanded. Dakota felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see Bobby trying to push her and Sam behind him.

“We don’t have it on us. We buried it.” Dakota lied.

“Didn’t I say no more crap. I swear, after everything I heard about you Winchesters, I’ve got to tell you, I’m a little underwhelmed! First Johnny tries to pawn off a fake gun, and then he leaves the real gun with a little girl and you two chuckleheads.” Meg ranted as Bobby, Sam, and Dakota started slowly backing up through the livingroom and into the study. “I mean, did you really think I wouldn’t find you?” Meg asked and Dakota looked passed her and saw Dean standing in the doorway.

“Actually, we were counting on it.” Dean said and Meg looked confused. Everyone, including Meg, raised their eyes to the ceiling where an intricate Devil’s Trap was painted, trapping Meg powerless inside.

……….

Meg was now tied up to a chair in the center of the trap while Dakota, Dean, Sam, and Bobby sat nearby after salting all the doors and windows so no more demons could get in.

“You know, if you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask.” Meg teased shooting a pointed look a the boy’s before winking at Dakota, which made her squirm.

Dean stood up and walked over to the demon, “Where’s our father, Meg?”

“You didn’t ask very nicely.” Meg smirked.

“Where’s our father, bitch.” Dakota snapped from her chair.

“You kiss your mother with that mouth? Oh, I forgot. You don’t.” Meg said and Dakota stood up, ready to throw a few punches, but Bobby wrapped his arms around her middle holding her back.

“You think this is a freakin’ game!? Where is he!? What did you do to him?” Dean yelled in Meg’s face.

“He died screaming. I killed him myself.” Meg said and Dean back handed her. Dakota’s eyes widened in shock, Dean had never hit a girl before. She remember when they first got to their teens and her dad lecturing the boys about never laying a hand on a woman or touching her without permission and Dakota knew both her brothers stuck to that code.

“That’s kind of a turn on. You hitting a girl.” Meg said.

“You’re no girl.” Dean replied.

Bobby stood up and grabbed Dean, pulling him out of the room and motioning for the twins to follow.

“She’s lying. He’s not dead!” Dean said once they were out of earshot.

“Dean, you’ve got to be careful with her. Don’t hurt her. She really is a girl.” Bobby said.

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked.

“She’s possessed. That’s a human possessed by a demon. Can’t you tell?” Bobby asked with a hint of shock in the question.

“We don’t deal with demons very often.” Dakota explained as her and her brothers turned back to look at Meg.

They turned back to Bobby and Dean said, “Are you trying to tell me there is an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?” Dean asked and Bobby nodded, “That’s actually good news.”

Dean walked over to his bag and pulled out their dad journal, opening it to a certain page then pushing it into Dakota’s hands. She looked down at the page and saw that it was the words to an exorcism. She passed the book to Sam and walked back into the study where Dean was standing right in front of Meg.

“Are you going to read me a story?” Meg asked and Dakota saw Sam walk over with the open book.

“Something like that. Hit it, Sam.” Dean said and Sam began reading.

“An exorcism? Really?” Meg asked and Dakota walked over to Bobby who was standing by the window.

“I have a bad feeling about this and I know you do too.” She said reading Bobby’s feelings. Bobby grunted right as Meg let out a yelp which drew everyone’s attention.

“He begged for his life with tears in his eyes. He begged to see his children one last time. That’s when I slit his throat.” Meg growled. Dakota turned back to Bobby and raised an eyebrow. Sam continued to read from the journal and a wind picked up in the house, blowing pages of books and Meg started shaking. Dean was still yelling at Meg and Sam was still reading and the chair Meg was tied to started moving around the room.

Dakota ran over to the boys and tried to take the journal from Sam’s hand, “Guys! Stop it!”

“He will be!” Meg cried out and Sam stopped reading.

“What?” Dakota asked.

“He’s not dead, but he will be after what we do to him.” Meg said.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Dean asked.

“You don’t.” Meg said and Dean pointed at Sam to continue, but Meg interrupted him, “A building, okay? A building in Jefferson City. I don’t know the address.”

“Is the demon there?” Sam asked.

“What happened to the nickname.” Dakota muttered.

“I don’t know. I swear. That everything. That’s all I know.” Meg said with tears in her eyes.

“Finish it.” Dean growled.

“What?” Dakota asked and she looked over at Sam who looked equally surprised. Meg started begging Dean to stop.

“Dean, we can still use her, find out where the demon is.” Sam said.

“There’s still an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there.” Dakota said.

“We need to help her.” Sam pleaded.

“You’re going to kill her. You said he fell from a building? That girl’s body is broken. The only thing keeping that girl alive is demon inside. You exorcise it, the girl is gonna die.” Bobby said.

“We can’t leave her like that!” Dean argued.

“She is a human being!” Dakota snapped.

“And we are going to put her out of her misery!” Dean growled at her before turning to her twin, “Sam, finish it.” Dean ordered and Dakota’s head throbbed at the feeling of Dean’s anger.

Sam looked at Bobby and Dakota for confirmation before they all walked back into the study and Sam started reading.

Meg’s eyes turned black and she started shaking as the chair moved around the room. She threw her head back and black smoke shot out of her as she screamed and once it finally stopped Meg’s body sagged against the ropes holding her to the chair and blood dripped from her mouth. Dakota could feel her immense pain and as sad as she felt for Meg, at least they knew she was alive.

“She’s alive, but she in pain. A lot of pain and she’s scared.” Dakota told her brothers as they approached the girl.

“How do you know that?” Bobby asked.

“She can feel it.” Dean said as Dakota put a hand to the girl’s neck to see what her pulse was.

“What?” Bobby asked and she heard Dean briefly tell Bobby about her and Sam’s powers but was busy try to take care of Meg. She placed her ear against Meg’s chest and heard shallow breaths and wheezing,like there was something in her lungs.

“Sam! Call 911!” She ordered. There was nothing they could do, she had no external injuries, nothing they should wrap, or set, or stitch, they just had to wait until professional help came.

“Get some water and blankets!” Dean yelled and Dakota felt a rush of air behind her as someone rushed past, but she didn’t turn around because Meg had just opened her eyes.

“Hey, Meg. You’re okay. Help is on the way. Everything’s going to be okay.” Dakota soothed.

“Thank you.” She whispered. Dean started cutting the ropes off of her and Sam came back over after hanging up with 911.

“Just take it easy.” Sam said untying her wrist.

Sam and Dean picked her up out of the chair and Meg cried out in pain. Dakota ran over to the couch and grabbed a pillow which she put under Meg’s head as the boys set her down.

“We’ve got you. It’s okay. Shh.” Dakota said quietly has Meg took labored breaths.

“A year. It’s been a year.” Meg said in a strained voice. “I’ve been awake for some of it... I couldn’t move my own body. The things I did...it was a nightmare.”

“It’s okay. It’s over. You’re safe now.” Dakota promised.

“Was it telling the truth about our dad?” Dean asked.

“Dean!” Sam and Dakota snapped. This girl was dying in front of them and he wanted to interrogate her.

“We need to know.” Dean argued.

“Yes. But it wants...you to know...they-they want you to come for him.” Meg said, her voice getting softer and her breaths coming fewer and farther between. Dakota stroked Meg’s short, choppy, blond hair, trying to offer some comfort.

“If Dad’s alive, none of that matters.” Dean said. Bobby came in with blankets and a bottle of water. Sam and Dean covered her body while Dakota tilted the bottle and lifted Meg’s head so she could take a sip. She coughed most of the water back up and Dakota whipped the blood and water from Meg’s chin.

“Where is the demon we’re looking for?” Sam asked, jumping on the question-the-dying-girl train. Dakota groaned internally at how heartless Sam and Dean were being, this was someone’s little girl, maybe someone’s sister, and they were using her last breaths for information for their own gain.

“Not there...other ones. Awful ones.” Meg answered.

“Where are they keeping our dad?” Dean asked.

“By the r...river. S...sun...sunrise.” She said and then Dakota felt a sharp pain shoot through her body followed by nothing. Meg was gone. Dean was still asking her what “sunrise” met when Dakota leaned over and closed Meg’s eyes.

“She’s not going to answer you.” Dakota said coldly before laying Meg’s head down and standing up.

“You three better beat it before the paramedics get here.” Bobby said walking them to the front door.

“What are you gonna tell them?” Dakota asked.

“You think you guys invented lying to the cops? I’ll figure something out.” Bobby assured them. He walked over to his desk and grabbed the book Sam had been reading earlier, “Here, take this, you might need it.” Sam grabbed it and muttered a thank you before heading out the door to the car.

“Thanks...for everything.” Dakota said giving Bobby a hug.

“Just go find your Daddy. And when you do, bring him around, would ya?” Bobby asked as he released Dakota from their hug and grabbed Dean, “I won’t even try to shot him this time.” He chuckled as he patted Dean on the back before letting go. Dakota scratched Rumsfeld's head before walking out the car.

……….

They pulled the Impala over on the outskirts of Jefferson City, Missouri as the Winchesters loaded their weapons. Sam stood against the car with the Key of Solomon laying on the top of it and a piece of white calk in his hand while Dakota finished loading her gun.

“You’re being quiet.” Sam said, Dakota looked over at him in question then he nodded to Dean.

“Just getting ready.” Dean replied as he cleaned his guns harshly.

“He’s gonna be fine, Dean.” Dakota said as Sam walked over and cleaned a spot on the open trunk of the Impala. Her eyes widened in shock as Sam began to draw on the car with the chalk.

“Dude! What are you doing to my car?” Dean said angrily.

“It’s a Devil’s Trap. Demons can’t get through it or inside it. It basically turns the trunk into a lockbox.” Sam explained drawing more symbols.

“So?” Dean asked still sounding pissed.

“So, we have a place to hide the Colt while we go get Dad.” Sam said.

“Wait, we’re not bringing it with us?” Dakota asked.

“I’m with her, we’re bringing the Colt with us.” Dean said.

“Woah! I didn’t say I wanted to, I just said I thought that we were. I don’t care where the gun ends up.” Dakota said holding her hands up in defense.

“We’ve only got three bullets left, we can’t just use them on any demon.” Sam said.

“Yeah, we have to use it on _the_ demon.” Dakota said.

“No, we have to save Dad. We’re gonna need all the help we can get.” Dean argued.

“Two against one. Sorry.” Dakota said.

“Kota’s right. Plus, you know how pissed Dad would be if we used all the bullets? Dean, he wouldn’t want us to bring the gun.” Sam said closing the book and holding it to the side in a way that reminded Dakota of her teachers lecturing her.

“I don’t care! I don’t care what Dad wants, okay? And since when do you care what Dad wants?” Dean yelled.

“You are being stupid and reckless, Dean, and it’s going to get us killed!” Dakota snapped.

“We want to kill this demon. You use to want that too. Hell, you’re the one who came and got me at school! You’re the one who dragged me back into this! I’m just trying to finish it!” Sam yelled. Dakota was going to defend Dean and remind Sam that she helped drag him away from Stanford, but Dean looked at the ground, smirking, and shook his head which was never a good sign in Dakota’s book.

“Well, you and Dad are a lot more alike than I thought, ya know that? You both can’t wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But ya know what, Dakota and I are gonna be the ones to bury you. You’re selfish you know that. You don’t care about anything, but revenge.” Dean said.

“That’s not true, Dean, you know that.” Dakota said

“Look, I want Dad back, but they are expecting us to bring that gun. They get this gun, they will kill us all. That Colt is our only leverage and you know it.” Sam said.

“He’s right. We can’t bring this gun.” Dakota said.

Dean huffed, “Fine.” and he threw the Colt into the trunk.


	42. Devil's Trap Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Turn to Stone" by Black Sabbath. So, this is the last chapter and the first of the currently unnamed sequel should be out around January 3.

Dakota, Sam, and Dean were walking down the main street in Jefferson City by the river, looking for any kind of sign of their father. Dakota looked up at one of the apartment building and froze in her spot.  
“Hey, I think I know what Meg meant by ‘sunrise’.” She said pointing at the sign that said Sunrise Apartments.  
“Son of a bitch. That’s pretty smart.” Dean said. “If these demons can possess people, they can possess almost anyone inside.”  
“And make anyone attack us.” Sam said.  
“It’s a building full of human shields.” Dakota commented as she watched parents pushing strollers and kids playing outside a apartment potentially full of demons.  
“They probably know exactly what we look like, too, and they could look like anyone.” Sam said.  
“That sucks. Alright, so, how the Hell are we gonna get in?” Dakota asked.  
“We could pull the fire alarm, that way we could get all the civilians out.” Dean said.  
“But then the city responds in seven minutes.” Sam said.  
“Exactly seven minutes.” Dean said.  
“...We’re gonna have to be quick.” Dakota said.  
Dakota and Dean waited across the street while Sam walked up to the apartment building and waited for someone to open the door. Sam went in and a few minutes later people were exiting the building and Dean and Dakota went to join the crowd of people leaving the building. The fire department showed up a few minutes later and Dakota and Dean walked up to him.  
“Hey, what’s going on? Is there a fire?” Dakota asked.  
“We’re figuring that out right now, ma’am. Just stay back.” The fireman told her.  
“Well, the thing is we got a yorkie upstairs and he pees when he’s nervous.” Dean said putting his arm around Dakota’s shoulder. The fireman ushered them back towards the crowd and Dakota saw Sam sneak up to the firetruck and open on the the side compartments and grabbed a few suits out.  
They all met around the corner and put on the fireproof suits and masks and went back around to the apartment building and went in with no problem. Dakota had her EMF detector out and was scanning the doors for any sign of sulfur.  
“I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.” Dean said.  
“I didn’t know that.” Dakota said as she approached the next door.  
“You never told me.” Sam said and Dakota’s EMF reader started beeping as they landed in front of apartment 221.  
Dean banged on the door and said in a deeper voice than usual, “This is the fire department. We need you to evacuate.”  
They heard the lock being undone on the other side of the door and as soon as the door was open and Sam and Dean tackled the two demons to the ground while Dakota sprayed them with a tank of Holy Water attached to her back. Sam and Dean wrestled the demons into the hallway closet and Sam and Dakota held it closed while Dean grabbed salt out of the bag and put a line in front of the door. As soon as the door was secure they stipped off the fireproof clothes to reveal their normal flannel and jean combos. While Sam and Dean packed up the supplies, Dakota rushed to the first bedroom in the apartment and saw her dad tied up and bloody on the bed. She reached down for the knife in her combat boots, but a hand on her arm stopped her then rushed forward and leaned close to John’s mouth.  
“He’s still breathing.” Dean said and he started shaking him, trying to wake him.  
“He could be possessed for all we know.” Sam pointed out.  
“What, are you nuts?” Dean asked frantically.  
“Dean, we gotta be sure.” Dakota said as Sam pulled a flask of Holy Water out of their bag and splashed some on their dad.  
John started to stir, “Sam? Why are you splashing water on me?”  
Sam shoved the flask into Dakota’s hands, “Kota did it!” He said pointing at her and Dakota gave me her best bitchface.  
“Dad, you okay?” Dean asked.  
“They been druggin’ me...where’s the Colt” Their dad mumbled.  
“Don’t worry Dad, it’s safe.” Sam promised and Dakota saw a flash of something is Dean’s eye and felt a bit of guilt settle around him. He must have brought the Colt with him.  
Dakota grabbed her knife once again and cut her father’s hands and feet free and the boys looped his arms over their shoulders and helped him up while Dakota carried the bag. Two men with black eyes burst through the front door and the Winchesters retreated back into the bedroom. Sam locked the door behind them right before an ax swung chopped into the door and Dakota dumped some salt in a line in front of the door before pointing to the window.  
“Fire escape.” She instructed and the boys opened the window and helped their dad out while Dakota salted the window behind them. They careful made their way down the ladder and once they hit the ground Dean and Dakota holding John while Sam ran ahead to check if the coast was clear and he got tackled to the ground. Dean leaned all of John’s weight onto Dakota who nearly collapsed under the 6’3 ex-Marine/hunter. Meanwhile she tried to pull the bag she was still holding higher onto her shoulder while Sam and Dean wrestled the demon; she heard a crash and some punches being thrown, but couldn’t lift her head. Then a gunshot rang out and she had a terrible feeling about who just fired what. She craned her neck and saw Dean standing there holding a smoking Colt and she groaned, both under the weight she was holding and her brother’s waist of a bullet, but then she saw Sam lying bloody on the ground and understood why Dean did it even if she didn’t agree with it. Dean ran over and picked up the nearly unconscious John and they stumbles to the car.  
……….  
They were hiding out in a run down shack in the middle of nowhere that was a hideout for one of John’s hunting partners. Since Dakota and Dean were the only two uninjured they locked up the shack and salted all the doors and windows while Sam helped John to the bedroom then cleaned his own injuries in the bathroom.  
Dakota set the bag of salt on the ground when she was done rubbed her temples in an attempt to prevent her oncoming headache as Dean walked into the room.  
“How’s Dad?” She asked.  
“He just needed a little rest, that’s all.” Dean said.  
“And Sam?” Dakota questioned.  
Dean sighed, “He’ll survive.”  
Dakota shifted her weight from foot to foot before turning to look at her big brother, “Hey, you don’t think we were followed here, do you?”  
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. We couldn’t have found a more out-of-the-way place to hole up.” Dean said as Sam walked into the room.  
“Hey, uh, Dean you...you saved my life back there.” Sam said.  
“So I guess you’re glad I brought the gun, huh?” Dean smirked.  
“Don’t ruin it.” Dakota said.  
“I’m trying to thank you here.” Sam said.  
“You’re welcome.” Dean smiled.  
“Hey, you know that guy I shot? There was a person in there.” Dean muttered.  
Dakota felt the wave of sadness and guilt, “You didn’t have a choice, Dean.”  
“I know. That’s not what bothers me. Killing that guy, killing Meg. I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t even flinch. For you two or Dad, the things I’m willing to do or kill it just...it scares me sometimes.” Dean said.  
Dakota opened her mouth to answer when John walked into the room, “It shouldn’t. You did good.”Dakota raised an eyebrow, something felt off about her dad, but she couldn’t pinpoint what. Maybe it was the drugs in his system or the adrenalin in hers.  
“You’re not mad?” Dean asked in shock.  
“For what? Using a bullet? Mad...I’m proud of you. You know, Sam and I, we can get pretty obsessed. But you, you watch out for this family. You always have.” John said and Dakota was now convinced something was wrong, their dad almost never talked like that, and he definitely wouldn’t thank Dean for using that bullet.  
Dean looked back at Dakota in confusion before turning back to their dad, “Thanks.”  
The lights in the house started flicking and the wind outside picked up.  
“They’re here.” Dakota said in a creepy sing-song voice.  
“Salt lines front of every window every door. Now.” John said.  
“Already did it.” Sam said.  
“Well check it, okay?” John snapped and Sam grabbed the bag of salt and ran off.  
“Dean you got the gun? Give it to me.” John said holding his hand out.  
“Dad, Sam already tried to shot the demon in Salvation. It vanished.” Dakota explained, not trusting him with the gun.  
“This is me. I won’t miss. Gun, now.” John demanded. Dean took the Colt out and held it in his hands before slowly backing away, Dakota following behind.  
“What are you two doing? We don’t have time for this!” John snapped.  
“He’d be furious. That I wasted a bullet. He wouldn’t be proud of me, he’d tear me a new one. You’re not my dad.” Dean said raising the gun and cocking it.  
“Guys it’s me.” John said.  
“We know our dad better than anyone, and you ain’t him.” Dakota said.  
“What the Hell has gotten into you?” John asked.  
“I could ask you the same thing.” Dean growled.  
Sam walked back into the room and froze at the scene playing out, “What the Hell is going on?”  
“Your siblings have lost their minds.” John said.  
“He’s not Dad. I think he’s possessed. I think he’s been possessed since we rescued him.” Dakota said.  
“Don’t listen to him, Sammy.” John commanded.  
“How do you guys know?” Sam asked.  
“He’s different.” Dean said.  
“I can’t feel him.” Dakota added.  
“You know what, we don’t have time for this. Sam, if you want to kill this demon, you gotta trust me.” John said.  
Sam looked between everyone, then took a sidestep towards Dean and Dakota. Dean kept the gun level with John and they stood staring at each other.  
“Fine.” John said with a crooked smile, “You’re all so sure? Go ahead. Kill me.” He looked at the ground for a minute while the Winchester siblings held their ground, “I thought so.” Said a deep, rough voice and John looked up at them with yellow irises. Dakota and Sam lunged for him and Dean put his finger on the trigger before they were all blown back and pinned against the walls a few inches above the ground.  
Yellow eyes picked up the Colt were it laid on the ground, “What a pain in the ass this thing’s been.”  
“It’s you, isn’t it?” Sam asked.  
Dakota turned her head to look at Sam, she was pinned on the same wall as him, but near the corner so she could also see Dean.  
“We’ve been looking for you for a long time.” Dakota said turning back to Yellow Eyes.  
“Well you found me.” He sneered.  
“But the Holy Water?” Sam asked.  
“You think something like that works on something like me?” Yellow Eyes asked.  
Dakota squirmed against the force pinning her to the wall while Sam stared down the demon, “I’m gonna kill you!” He threatened.  
“Oh, that would be a neat trick. In fact, here.” Yellow Eyes said setting the Colt down, “Make the gun float to you there, Psychic Boy. How ‘bout you Ms. Empathy?” He smirked. Dakota looked at the gun and tried to tap into the part of her that had stopped Max’s bullet from hitting Dean months ago, but nothing happened.  
“Well this is fun. I could have killed you a hundred times today. But this...this was worth the wait.” He chuckled then the demon turned to Dean who was still struggling against the hold of him, “Your dad, he’s in here with me, trapped inside his own meat suit. He says ‘hi’, by the way. He’s gonna tear you apart. He’s gonna taste the iron in your blood.”  
“Let him go or I swear to God…” Dean threatened.  
“What? What are you and God gonna do? You see as far as I’m concerned, this is justice.” He said as he walked towards Dean. Dakota had no idea how this was justice, he had killed their mother and ruined their lives, but he thought he was seeking justice?  
“You know that little exorcism of yours? That was my daughter. The one in the alley? That was my boy. You understand me?” Yellow Eyes explained.  
“Oh, you gotta be kidding me.” Dakota muttered.  
“You got something you wanna say to me girl. What? You think you’re the only one who can have a family? You and your brothers destroyed my children. How would you feel if I killed your family?” Yellow Eyes said getting in her face, “Oh right. I forgot. I did. Still, two wrongs don’t make a right.” Dakota looked into his eyes and tried to hide how scared she was.  
“You son of a bitch.” Dean yelled.  
“I want to know why? Why’d you do it?” Sam asked.  
“You mean why did I kill Mommy and pretty, little Jess?” Yellow Eyes asked, then he looked back at Dean and Dakota, “You know he never told you this, but Sam was gonna ask her to marry him. Been shopping for rings and everything. You want to know why? Because they got in the way. In the way of my plans for you two, Sammy and Kota, you two...and all the children like you.” He said and Dakota furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what he meant by that.  
“Listen, you mind just getting this over with, huh? ‘Cause I really can't stand the monologuing.” Dean complained.  
“Funny, but that’s all part of your M.O., isn’t it? Mask all that nasty truth, mask the pain. You know, you fight and you fight for this family, but the truth is they don’t need you. Not like you need them. Sam, he’s clearly John’s favorite, even when they fight, it’s more concern than he’s ever shown for you.” Dakota couldn’t help with agree with the demons last comment, Sam had always been the favorite.  
“I’ll bet you’re real proud of your kids too, huh? Oh wait, I forgot, I wasted them.” Dean taunted. Yellow Eyes smirked and took a step back, then Dakota’s insides were on fire and she screamed out in pain as her brothers called her name.  
“You took something for me, I’m gonna take something from you.” She heard Yellow Eyes say to Dean as blood leaked out of the corner of her mouth and she felt her chest get ripped up and blood soaked her chest. Yellow Eyes walked over to her and looked at her while smirking.  
“Dad! Daddy, don’t you let it kill me!” She cried as her vision became fuzzy and blood pooled on the ground below her feet. She felt another stabbing pain and her stomach started bleeding. “Daddy please.” Her head sagged as she begged and she felt lightheaded and out of breath. Suddenly John blinked as his eyes were back to his normal warm brown and the three siblings were dropped to the floor and Dakota crumpled under her own wait. Dean ran over and picked her up and she heard a gunshot and a thud. She looked over and saw her dad on the ground with a bullet hole in his leg and Sam holding the Colt, now with only one bullet left inside. She tried to push herself up, but Dean stopped her.  
“Stay still, Baby Girl. You lost a lot of blood.” Dean hushed.  
“De? Are Sammy and Daddy okay?” Dakota whispered.  
“They’re okay.” He promised.  
“Will you go check on them?” She asked.  
“Sammy’s got it. I’m staying right here with you.” He promised. Dakota felt herself slowly fade out of consciousness and she continued to fade in and out through her dad and Sam yelling and only woke up when she felt herself being lifted off the ground. She grabbed onto Dean’s coat as he lowered her into the back of the Impala.  
“Just hold on okay. We got to get to a hospital.” Dean said.  
“The hospital is only ten minutes away.” Sam said and Dakota leaned against the window.  
“I’m surprised at you, Sammy. Why didn’t you kill it? I thought we saw eye-to-eye on this. Killing this demon comes first, before me, before anything.” John scowled.  
“No, Sir, not before anything.” Sam said. “Look, we’ve still got the Colt. We still have the one bullet left. We just have to start over. We found the demon once…” Sam said and then Dakota was thrown across the car as a semi-truck slammed into them and the world went black.


End file.
